Carlos Aguiar Retes (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos aˈɣjaɾ ˈretes]; born 9 January 1950) is a Mexican cardinal of the Catholic Church who serves as the Archbishop of Mexico City.

David Agren of the Catholic News Service calls him a "longtime ally" of Pope Francis who combines "intellectual finesse with a pastoral passion".

From 1992 to 1993 he was part of a team of biblical scholars who prepared the edition of la Biblia de América, a translation of the Bible into accessible language.

[4][5] In 1996 he completed a doctorate in biblical theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, with a thesis "Criticism of the prophets fasting".

Between 1996 and 1997 he held the chair of Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical University of Mexico, where he was also rector of the John XXIII Residence for Priests.

[8] In preparation for that year's conference held in Aparecida, Brazil, he authored a paper on globalization and the new evangelization that linked the devaluation of local cultures and traditional community-sanctioned norms to the economic forces behind mass migration and environmental damage.

[11][12][13] In 2008 he discussed the relationship between the Mexican bishops and drug traffickers who at times funded the construction of local churches.

He presented an interviewer with his assessment of the Latin American church as "the transition from a time when Christian values were accepted by everyone to a situation where the models are changing, and a multi-cultural society is forming".

He said:[20] We can't take the view that our primary task is to stand on the threshold checking whether or not people have the administrative requirements for belonging to the Church.

[1] He worked with Governor Eruviel Ávila and representatives of other religions on a statement of shared values, the "Pact for the Strengthening of Values with Religious Associations" ("Pacto por el Fortalecimiento de los Valores con Asociaciones Religiosas"), to coordinate efforts to strengthen social institutions.

"[25] Along with his Latin American colleagues, he stressed that "Religiosity remains alive and is the great potential reserve of our peoples", that "deep popular piety rooted in all the countries" of the region.

In promoting the Church's position on government policies, he asked the laity to lead the effort, for example in opposing a plan to establish a right to same-sex marriage in the constitution.

The diocese promoted a youth festival that featured sports like biker acrobatics, a graffiti contest, a car tuning demonstration, and popular music concerts from boombox to classic rock.

[36] On 7 December 2017, Pope Francis named him Archbishop of Mexico to succeed Norberto Rivera Carrera who spent 22 years in the post.

He called on parents to remain close to their children who declare themselves gay or lesbian, adding "If they decide as a matter of free choice to be with another person, to be in a union, that's freedom".