Fr. Cárdenas studied philosophy with the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, of which he is a member, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He then studied his first two years of theology at the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Mexico, in Mexico City, finishing his theological studies at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. He has worked for fourteen years in parish ministry and for seventeen years in formation. Fr. Cárdenas served as pastor of St. Katherine’s in Del Rey, California and was part of a team that served three parishes in the Diocese of Fresno, California from 1982 to 1986. Before beginning his first term of formation ministry at St. John’s Seminary in 1987, he served one year at St. Martha’s Parish in Huntington Park, California. From 1990 to 1991 he was the Vice-Rector of the Novitiate of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in Long Beach, California. In 1991 he returned to parish ministry at St. Martha’s in Huntington Park. From 1999 to 2000 he returned to his formal studies at Mount Angel in Oregon, receiving his Certificate in Spiritual Direction at the Spirituality Center of the Benedictine Sisters. Since 1972 he has been involved with the Charismatic Renewal serving as a guest speaker in many congresses and conferences. Fr. Cárdenas is a member of the Spiritual Directors Team at the House of Prayer for Priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
