His Eminence Juan José Bonel y Orbe
Cardinal priest of Santa Maria della Pace Patriarch of the West Indies Archbishop of Toledo – Primate of Spain
Cardinal Juan José Bonel y Orbe. Bernardo López Piquer. (Museo del Prado).
Orders
Ordination	21 December 1805
Consecration	11 June 1831 by Blas Álvarez Palma
Personal details
Born	17 March 1782 in Pinos del Valle
Died	11 February 1857 in Madrid
Profession	Doctor in Civil Law and Canon Law
Alma mater	University of Granada
Motto	Pacem et veritatem diligite
Coat of arms

Juan José Bonel y Orbe (Pinos del Valle, Granada, 17 March 1782 — Madrid, 11 February 1857) was a Spanish Catholic ecclesiastic, bishop, archbishop, and cardinal in various dioceses.

Born in the town of Pinos del Valle, Spain, in 1796 he went to Granada to study, where he took a law scholarship at the Royal College of San Bartolomé and Santiago,^[1] graduating at the age of twenty-two. He received his doctorate in Civil Law and Canon Law from the University of Granada, eventually becoming a professor of the latter subject.

On 21 December 1805, he was ordained a priest and assigned to the parish of San Pedro y San Pablo in Granada, where he remained until 1816 when he was appointed doctoral canon of Málaga and general vicar of the same diocese in 1827.^{[citation needed]}

In 1830, despite being designated as the new bishop of Ibiza, he ended up taking the same position in Málaga due to the death of the bishop of the Málaga diocese, assuming the post on 12 October 1831.

On 7 March 1834, he took possession of the bishopric of Córdoba.

Four years later, he was elected archbishop of Granada by the government of the Duke of Frías, but he was not confirmed by the Pope, so he continued as bishop of Córdoba until 1847 when he was appointed and confirmed as archbishop of Toledo.

In the Consistory of 1850, he was elevated to cardinal priest of Santa Maria della Pace by Pope Pius IX.

He was a senator for the Province of Almería (1837–1838) and Province of Granada (1840).

In 1839, he was elected Patriarch of the West Indies and military vicar general for a period of eight years, positions he held concurrently with his pontificate in Córdoba.

He was the uncle of poet José de Espronceda and one of the founders of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country.

With his health greatly deteriorated, he died in Madrid and his remains were buried in the Toledo Cathedral.

• Archdiocese of Toledo