Guissona is a locality in the province of Lérida, in Catalonia, which does not reach 6,000 inhabitants. It belongs to the diocese of Urgel and these demographic figures are misleading, since in recent decades it has been a pole of attraction for migration from multiple places due to the number of jobs generated by the Guissona cooperative. This has caused the population to double or even triple, with the result that the native parishioners are mostly elderly and numerically few.
This parish made headlines exactly one year ago, when Infovaticana and the Tekton channel reported that during the visit of the Three Wise Men to the temple on the afternoon of the fifth, texts from the Bible and the Quran were read, profanation of the temple justified by the parish due to the multiculturalism of the town.
In the face of the noise generated, they decided at the last moment not to read the Quran, but rather “texts about peace.”
But this year they have reconsidered and gone back to their old ways. The elderly priest in a plaid shirt, one of those who signed the 2017 separatist manifesto, has thought that he is not going to let himself be beaten by the noise generated by the Catholic far right and has doubled down on the bet. This is how the parish’s Instagram announced it yesterday: “On the 5th, as is tradition, the Three Kings Parade will take place. The Three Wise Men will, as always, visit the church. In ancient times, the image of the Baby Jesus was kissed, but in Guissona today we live with a new reality that must be respected. Some pages and one of the kings are of the Muslim religion and this practice seems inappropriate to them. Last year, some media criticism was received when it was decided that during the adoration, texts from both the Bible and the Quran would be read. These texts share universal values such as peace, harmony, fraternity, forgiveness, and love: all that we want the Three Kings to bring us. For this reason, the Eucharist on the fifth will be celebrated at five in the afternoon.”
“For this reason” that the priest thinks the Bible and the Quran share values, “the Mass will be celebrated at five.” They are two sentences that make no more sense together than the insinuation that they will do it again, as separatists like to say.
What a defeat. What sadness. Thank God, there are thousands of parishes around the world where the Three Wise Men adore the Child. But this lamentable case shows how a bad priest can cause an entire town to lose their faith. When relativism, the religious indifferentism that Gregory XVI already denounced in 1832, prevails over faith in the true religion, it is a capitulation. The parish’s own Instagram announced these days a conference organized by the parish and with the help of the local town hall, a conference by an “Arabist, medievalist, and Islamologist,” emeritus professor at the University of Barcelona, to “talk about Islam as God commands.” A true outrage, a drama. And an exposure of the naive to become victims of all the violence and disarray caused by uncontrolled mass immigration, for, as Cardinal Burke recently warned, “if the Church knew what Islam is really like, in Europe they should be afraid.”
In the face of such a situation of danger to souls, should the bishop be officially informed? Is it possible that he doesn’t already know, when this practice has been going on for years? Would writing to Rome do any good? The priest has shown that he does not want to amend, but rather reaffirms himself in the error even after being informed that it was one. He cannot claim lack of knowledge. The day he dies he will have to give many accounts to God for the souls entrusted to him and whom he leads down a path of perdition. May God have mercy on those poor parishioners.