The Distance Theological Institute (ITD) has a new director following the departure of priest José Castro Cea, known as «Josete». The Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, has appointed José Ángel Agejas Esteban in his place, professor of Ethics and Deontology at the Faculty of Communication of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, as reported by Religión Confidencial.
The change occurs after José Castro Cea was removed from the Institute’s direction and dismissed as parish priest of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Madrid, following the dissemination by Infovaticana of a video in which he appeared at a humorous show accompanied by another person who claimed to be his partner. Since then, the priest has stopped performing executive functions at the Institute.
Read also: The incriminating video of Josete, the priest to whom Cobo owes his cardinalate
New Appointment
Agejas’s appointment has been official since last December. The Distance Theological Institute was founded more than fifty years ago by Cardinal Vicente Enrique y Tarancón and is registered in the Associations Registry of the Ministry of Justice since April 10, 1981.
Agejas is a university professor and directs the Revista Interdisciplinar de Filosofía y Humanidades Relectiones. His research focuses on the philosophical foundations of ethics and its application to the field of communication and information.
Among his publications stand out Series en serio. Claves éticas en la ficción audiovisual (2020) and the first Spanish translation and edition of Barioná, el hijo del Trueno, an early work by Jean-Paul Sartre (2004). He is also part of the research team at the Instituto Razón Abierta.
What is «Josete» up to?
Regarding the situation of José Castro Cea, the Archdiocese of Madrid neither confirms nor denies the existence of an open canonical file. “Regarding whether there is or not a canonical file, it is a reserved procedure about which we cannot inform, since in the affirmative case it would be reported directly to the interested party,” sources from the archbishopric indicated to Religión Confidencial.
Although it has been pointed out that he might be collaborating as a priest in a parish and in a residence, the archdiocese assures that he currently has no pastoral assignment in the diocese. The only confirmed thing is that he no longer serves as director of the Distance Theological Institute. In December, he also obtained a certificate from the Advanced Course in Artificial Intelligence for Businesses from the Madrid Chamber of Commerce.