Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru

Who is Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru?

Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru is secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts since 15 February 2007.

Born in Vitoria, Spain in 1951, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Prelature of the Holy Cross on 23 August 1977. He received doctorates in Canon Law and jurisprudence and served as professor of canon law, first at the University of Navarra and then in Rome and Venice.

Arrieta was Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, from its creation in 1984 until 1993, and again in 1995-1999. He founded and until 2002 directed the review Ius Ecclesiae. From 2003 he was Dean of the Institute of Canon Law of Saint Pius X, Venice. He held the positions of canon prelate of the Apostolic Penitentiary, legal secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the State of Vatican City, and served as a consultor of the Congregation for the Clergy, the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

Bishop Arrieta has written many published works, including treatises, monographs, commentaries and research in canon law. In addition to Spanish and Italian, he speaks French and English.