Cipriano Calderón Polo

Cipriano Calderón Polo (1 December 1927 – 4 February 2009) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who worked as a journalist, editor, spokesperson, and administrator as an expert in explaining Church affairs to the Spanish-language public and in helping two popes, Paul VI and John Paul II, manage their relationship with the bishops of Latin America. After becoming a bishop in 1989, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, he became known as "the pope's man for Latin America". He was inspired to become a priest by the example of his uncle, a parish priest. Before he turned thirteen he entered the minor seminary there. He studied at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Santander until 1948 and then lived at the Spanish Pontifical College of Saint Joseph in Rome, where he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University, graduated with degrees in philosophy and theology.

On 19 March 1953, he was ordained a priest.

In 1968, he accompanied Pope Paul VI on his visit to Bogota, his first overseas journey as pope, after which the pope decided to start the weekly Spanish-language version of L'Osservatore Romano with Calderón as its editor; it launched in 1969.

Calderón attended three general assemblies of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops Conference (CELAM), accompanying Pope Paul to Medellín in 1968, working as a journalist in Puebla in 1979, and accompanying Pope John Paul to Santo Domingo in 1992. By the last of these he had become the pope's confidante and counselor on Latin American Church affairs. and he was assigned as a bishop the titular see of Thagora on 3 December. The Commission was an agency within the Congregation for Bishops that coordinated Vatican policy with the bishops conferences of Latin America. Because the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops was ex officio president of the Commission, Calderón as vice president was the most senior official dedicated to the Commission's work. He received his episcopal ordination on 6 January 1989 in the Basilica of St. Peter from Pope John Paul.

He died of side effects of cancer after being hospitalized for several days in the Pio XI clinic in Rome on 4 February 2009. He was buried in the church of El Salvador in Plasencia,

Plasencia named him its "favorite son" in 2006 and marked his birthplace with a plaque in 2013.