Cristóbal López Romero

Cristóbal López Romero (born 19 May 1952) is a Spanish Catholic prelate who has served as the Archbishop of Rabat since 2018. He is a member of the Salesians and before becoming a bishop was devoted to pastoral work in Latin America and administrative responsibilities in his order. Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2019, and he was considered papabile in the 2025 conclave. He was accused of sexual misconduct by five women in 2026.

Biography Early life and studies Cristóbal López Romero was born on 19 May 1952 in Vélez-Rubio, Spain. He joined the Salesians in 1964 and studied at the Salesian Seminaries of Gerona and Barcelona, studying philosophy from 1973 to 1975 and theology from 1975 to 1979. He earned a licenciate in information sciences, Journalism section, at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 1982. He took his first vows as a Salesian on 16 August 1968 and made his solemn profession on 2 August 1974. He was ordained a priest on 19 May 1979. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 March 2018 from Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona. Anticipating the visit of Pope Francis to Morocco in the spring of 2019, he described the Church in Morocco as "vibrant" and "young": "More young than old people come to our churches, more men than women, more black than white people." He emphasized its international character, caring for migrants from countries south of the Sahara with Church personnel drawn from more than forty countries. On 24 May 2019, Pope Francis named him Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Tangier.

On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made him Cardinal Priest of San Leone I. López inaugurated on 8 December of the same year the monastery of Tazert, a community of Franciscan nuns in his diocese. He was made a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on 21 February 2020. In 2022 he participated in a ceremony at the tombs of the monks of the monastery of Toumliline, which had held international interfaith dialogue conferences in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In July 2026, an Agence France-Presse investigation revealed that he was accused of sexual assault by five women, accusations he denied. He stepped down from his duties pending the outcome of an investigation launched by the Vatican.

2025 papal conclave Lopez participated as a cardinal elector in the 2025 papal conclave. In advance of the conclave, the National Catholic Reporter considered him papabile, one of the potential candidates to become pope. The conclave ultimately elected Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV.