Fr Juan Carlos Tinjaca ss.cc (°1968) was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus) in 1991 and made his final vows in 1994. In 1999 he came to Belgium to study at the KU Leuven, where he obtained a master’s degree in Biblical Studies in 2002. On returning to Columbia, he was ordained a priest in 2002 and worked in formation and as treasurer of his community.

He returned to Leuven in 2006 to work on the ‘Damiaan Vandaag’ project. Because of his engagement in the Sint Michiel faith community, he ended up working in pastoral care of the Leuven Pastorale Zone. He is a member of the ‘in-solidum’ team of priests and served as moderator for one year. In 2020 he was given responsibility for pastoral care of the Sint Kwinten faith community.