Father Ruben Martínez Ortega OP was elected as a Prior Provincial of Our Lady of the Rosary Province on August 5, 2021, in Avila, Spain. He is the successor of Fr Bonifacio García Solís OP, and the 116 Prior Provincial of the Province.
Fr Rubén was born on 23 August 1962 in Mazariegos, (Palencia, Spain). He completed his High School studies at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Valladolid (1972-1980). He entered the novitiate at Santo Domingo Priory of Ocaña (Toledo, Spain) (1981-1982), and made his first vows on 21 September 1982. He completed his institutional studies at the Provincial Studium of San Pedro Mártir, in Madrid, from 1980 to 1987. On 27 June 1987, he was ordained to the priesthood.
He studied English in Scotland before returning to Spain to fulfill his military service from 1988 to 1989. Then he was assigned to the mission of Taiwan (1989 -2013) and to Timor Leste (2013-2021) .
While in the Mission of Taiwan, aside from his pastoral ministries in various Taiwanese-speaking parishes, he served as Vicar Provincial of the Mission from 2001 to 2010 and as the National Coordinator of the Dominican Family in Taiwan.
In 2013 Fr Ruben was chosen to be one of the founding friars of the Timor Leste mission, and he served there as the Vicar of the Provincial and the superior at Saint Dominic’s House in Dili. Although his native language is Spanish, he also speaks fluently English, Taiwanese, Portuguese, and Tetun.
Father Ruben was elected by the capitulars of the Provincial Chapter gathered in the Real Monasterio Santo Tomas, in Avila, on 5 August 2021; and his election was confirmed by the Master of the Order of Preacher, Fr Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP.
It is with great joy that the brethren in the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary welcome the new Prior Provincial and we fervently ask God to send His Holy Spirit upon him to guide him in animating the brothers to be faithful to the Gospel.