On the morning of this Monday, just hours before appearing at the Provincial Court of Málaga, the priest Custodio Ballester, coadjutor in the parish of San Sebastián de Badalona, spoke to InfoVaticana at the boarding gate of the flight that was taking him to face his trial. After eight years of judicial proceedings for an alleged hate crime, which has been widely covered in the media, the parish priest assured that he felt “resigned and calm”.
“The psalm from today’s liturgy consoles me greatly: Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act: He will make your justice like the dawn, your right like the noonday,” expressed Ballester. He also recalled how the early Church prayed for the apostle Peter imprisoned by Herod: “He was sleeping chained between two soldiers and the next day they were going to execute him. The prison doors opened and guided by an angel he found himself free and on the street. This can also happen today, if we have faith.”
“God does not lose battles”
His message is one of hope, after these 8 years of proceedings, Father Custodio responded with serenity and firmness:
“God does not lose battles. There is Jesus on the Cross, who from the greatest failure brings the greatest victory. We, His disciples, cannot expect a different path. God hears the prayers of His people. The angels carry them to the altar of Heaven like perfumed incense and God welcomes this offering. Whatever happens, death or life, prison or freedom, it will be given to us for our good. I have a clear conscience.”
Aware of what is at stake, he insisted that his words about radical Islam were true: “What I said about Islam, not about each Muslim in particular, is the pure truth.” And he added with conviction: “The apostle Paul says that all things work together for good to those who love God. Even the most painful things. Let us seek Christ, find Christ and love Him with grateful love and… we will see His glory.”
A testimony of faith in adversity
With this spiritual disposition, Father Custodio Ballester faces the trial that could condemn him to three years in prison. In the meantime, he remains firm in his priestly vocation and in his mission to proclaim the truth and denounce error, trusting that, as he recalls, “God never loses battles” and commending himself to the prayers of all those who remember him.