A bishop as head of state
The Andorran peculiarity makes the gravity of this case surpass any precedent. The Bishop of Urgell, Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat, is not only the pastor of a diocese: he is the co-prince of Andorra, head of state alongside the President of the French Republic. And in that capacity, it will be he, with his signature, who will sanction the law that turns into a “right” what the Church has always condemned as a most grave crime.
In other words: the only bishop in the world with the rank of head of state would be about to sign an abortion law. And that opens a canonical and moral crisis without parallel.
Automatic excommunication?
The Code of Canon Law (c. 1398) establishes automatic excommunication for those who procure an abortion. Technically, the signing of a law does not directly fall into that classification, as it is not about performing or facilitating a specific abortion, but about legislating. But the issue does not end there.
The encyclical Evangelium vitae of St. John Paul II teaches with all clarity that Catholic politicians who promote abortion laws incur formal cooperation with a most grave evil and place themselves in an objective situation of mortal sin, which makes them unworthy to receive Communion. In this case, we are talking about a bishop: a successor of the apostles sanctioning as head of state what the Church calls an abominable crime.
An unprecedented scandal
The immediate consequence would be separation from ecclesial communion. Serrano Pentinat could not receive Communion, he would be in public grave sin and would be, de facto, an excommunicated bishop, even if the Holy See has not yet formally declared the penalty. And that declaration could come: Rome would have the obligation to intervene to preserve the credibility of the Church in the defense of the most defenseless, unborn children.
If this nonsense is consummated, Spain (because Serrano Pentinat is a Spanish bishop) will find itself with a fact that has never happened before: an excommunicated bishop, separated from the communion of the Church for giving his political endorsement to the legalized murder of innocents.
How far can the capitulation go?
In Rome, the Secretariat of State speaks of “institutional balances.” In practice, it means looking the other way and accepting that a bishop signs an abortion law so that a Pyrenean microstate does not crumble. But the Church was not founded to sustain political balances, but to save souls.
If this step is allowed, the wound to credibility will be deep and lasting. Because what is at stake is not Andorra, but the very prophetic voice of the Church in the face of the power of death.