Background
Bruguès was born at Bagnères de Bigorre, in the diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes.
Bruguès was born at Bagnères de Bigorre, in the diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes.
He studied at the Faculty of Law of Montpellier (1960-1963) and the Faculty of Arts of Madrid (1963-1964), graduating with Law and Economics degrees. He then studied in Paris at the School of Political Science, graduating in 1966 with a degree in Political Science.
He was selected for the entrance exam to the elite école nationale d"administration, but resolved instead to take holy orders, eventually graduating with a doctorate in theology. He made his first religious profession on 29 September 1969 and was ordained a priest 22 June 1975 in Toulouse. Bruguès served as prior of the Dominican priories of Toulouse and Bordeaux, and later provincial of the Province of Toulouse.
He was also professor of fundamental moral theology at the Catholic Institute of Toulouse before being called to teach the same subject at the University of Fribourg, where he held the chair in fundamental moral theology from 1997 to 2000.
On 20 March 2000, Bruguès was appointed Bishop of Angers by Pope John Paul World War II He received his episcopal consecration on the following 30 April from Cardinal Pierre Eyt, with Bishops Jean Orchampt and Archbishop François Saint-Macary serving as co-consecrators. He was elected President of the Doctrinal Commission of the French Episcopal Conference in 2002.
On 10 November 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named him Secretary (the second-highest position) of the Congregation for Catholic Education in the Roman Curia and bestowed upon him the personal title of "Archbishop". Since 19 November 2009, he has been a consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Bruguès served as President of the Organizing Committee of the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI, specifically for the Symposium on "The Gospels: History and Christology - Research of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI", which was held at the Pontifical Lateran University on 24–26 October 2013.
Seminaries.
Bruguès has reportedly backed a plan to re-organize seminary training in an attempt re-build the spiritual identity of the clergy.
He was a member of the International Theological Commission from 1986 to 2002, and in 1995 he was invited by Jean-Marie Lustiger to preach the Lenten conferences at Notre-Dame Cathedral.