The Spanish Episcopal Conference opens today, Monday, an important week for the church with the election of the successor of Cardinal Juan José Omella who, due to age, does not have the option of reelection as head of the Catholic community. The assembly will elect the new positions of the ecclesiastical leadership for the next four years.
Although Omella presented his resignation as head of the archbishopric of Barcelona upon turning 75 in 2021, the Pope has maintained him as one of the most trusted prelates who advise him in the Vatican while continuing to head the Spanish Episcopal Conference until the election that will take place this week.
The place vacated by Omella can be occupied by any of the 79 electors of the assembly under the age of seventy-five. However, two names have stood out in recent weeks as possible successors. On the one hand, the archbishop of Valladolid, Luis J. Argüello, and the recently elected young archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo.
Omella, in a recent interview with Spanish Television, has not openly opted for either of the two names. “Either of them will do it better than me,” she said.
According to the planned calendar, the assembly will begin this Monday at 11 a.m. with the speech of President Omella, the last one he will give in that position, and then the nunciature advisor Roman Walczak will intervene on behalf of the apostolic nuncio in Spain.
During the week the bishops will elect the president; vice president; members of the executive committee; the presidents of the episcopal commissions and subcommittees; the president of the Episcopal Council of Legal Affairs; and the three members of the Episcopal Economic Council.
The elections will begin on Tuesday morning, after a non-binding trial vote on Monday afternoon.
The agenda of the assembly includes, among others, the study of the comprehensive reparation plan for victims of sexual abuse in the ecclesiastical sphere, one of the issues that Juan José Omella has had to face during his mandate. The Church prepares for reparations and compensation to all victims, whether or not they have judicial recognition.
In a political key, the new Episcopal Conference that emerged from this assembly must take a position on the controversial Amnesty law that is being debated these days. In 2021 Omella expressed resounding support for the pardons granted to those convicted by the Supreme Court. The amnesty seems to spark debate within the church as evidenced in the statements of the general secretary and spokesperson of the Conference César García Magán.
