Juan Soldevila y Romero was born in
Fuentelapeña, and studied at the
seminaries in Valladolid and Toledo before being
ordained to the
priesthood on 28 December 1867. He obtained his
doctorate in theology from the Central Seminary of Santiago de Compostela in 1868, and then studied
canon law at the seminary in Tuy. Soldevila served as a
curate in three
parishes in the
Archdiocese of
Valladolid, and became
secretary to the Archbishop,
Cesáreo Rodrigo y Rodríguez (1875), a
cathedral canon (1883), and an
archpriest (1887). Along with sitting on the Provincial
Junta of Beneficence and on the Diocesan Junta for the Reconstruction of Churches, he was the
Royal Preacher and a
Knight of the Royal American Order of
Isabel la Católica, a secretary capitular, and
synodal examiner. In 1885, he was a member of the Junta for the assistance of victims of a
cholera epidemic. On 14 February 1889 Soldevila was appointed
Bishop of Tarazona Pope Benedict XV created him
Cardinal Priest of
Santa Maria del Popolo in the
consistory of 15 December 1919. He received his
cardinal's biretta from
King Alphonse XIII on Christmas Day of that same year. Soldevila was one of the
cardinal electors who participated in the
1922 papal conclave, which selected
Pope Pius XI. At age 79, Cardinal Soldevila was
assassinated by the
anarchist group
Los Solidarios in
Zaragoza. The apparent motive for the killing was revenge for the association of the Cardinal with the 'yellow' unions at a time of open violence between anarcho-syndicalists and
pistoleros including the killing of anarchist leader
Salvador Seguí. He is buried at the
Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. ==References==