He replaced Archbishop Emeritus José Martín Rábago, whose resignation was accepted under Canon 401.1 and who had been archbishop since his appointment by Pope John Paul II in 1995. Archbishop Cortés Contreras was born in La Luz in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamora on July 16, 1947. He studied philosophy and theology in the Seminary of Monterrey, and subsequently earned a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He succeeded Archbishop Emeritus José Martín Rábago, whose resignation was accepted under Canon 401.1 and who had been archbishop since his appointment by Pope John Paul II in 1995. Archbishop Cortés Contreras was born in La Luz in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamora on July 16, 1947. He studied philosophy and theology at the Seminary of Monterrey, and subsequently earned a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.