Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, referred this Sunday to reports about his possible replacement at the head of the archdiocese and joked about the possibility that his participation in the festivities of the Virgin of the Cinta, in Tortosa, might coincide with the final stage of his episcopal ministry in the Catalan capital.
«Now that journalists are saying I have to leave Barcelona, well, that’s fine, I end my ministry very well, in Barcelona with the Pope’s visit and in Tortosa with the Virgin of the Cinta, what more could I want? We’ll see if the journalists are right or not,» the cardinal stated during the celebration, according to Agència Flama.
These words come as Omella continues to lead Barcelona at 80 years of age. The cardinal submitted his resignation in April 2021, shortly before turning 75, as required by canon law, but his resignation has not been accepted and he continues to govern the archdiocese with all his faculties. On April 21, he turned 80, the age at which he also ceased to be part of the group of cardinal electors.
The extension of his mandate has once again fueled reports about who might succeed him. El Mundo published this Monday an extensive analysis of the names circulating as possible candidates and points out that the absence of a clearly dominant profile would be contributing to prolonging the process.
Among the names mentioned by the newspaper are the Archbishop of Pamplona, Florencio Roselló; the Archbishop of Seville and former auxiliary bishop of Barcelona, José Ángel Saiz Meneses; the Bishop of Solsona, Francesc Conesa; and the Bishop of Tortosa and also former auxiliary of Barcelona, Sergi Gordo.
Also added to these are the current auxiliaries of Barcelona Javier Vilanova and David Abadías, as well as various profiles linked to Montserrat —including its abbot, Manel Gasch—, the priest of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Jordi Bertomeu and the Spanish cardinal and Bishop of Ajaccio, François-Xavier Bustillo.
These are, in any case, names circulating in the media and ecclesiastical circles and not candidacies confirmed by the Holy See. El Mundo also points to the existence of different sensitivities regarding the succession, including the weight of the Catalanist ecclesiastical sector, without any of the possible candidates appearing as a clearly dominant option so far.
The situation had already been addressed by InfoVaticana on September 1, noting that different ecclesiastical sectors are considering names such as Roselló, Saiz Meneses, Conesa or Bertomeu while Omella continues to lead the archdiocese.
Read also: Eighty years, four months and a we’ll see.
«Society is walking disoriented and in need of meaning»
Omella made his remarks about the possible replacement during his participation this Sunday, September 6, in the Feasts of the Virgin of the Cinta, patroness of Tortosa, a celebration with which he also maintains a personal connection due to the proximity of the city to Cretas, his birthplace, in the province of Teruel.
«I see the doors open, and the mountains that separate my town from yours, I feel as if I were in my own land, Cretas,» he noted. The cardinal explained that during his childhood he frequently went to Tortosa «to attend Mass» and evoked his memories of those years along the Ebro River.
During the homily, Omella focused much of his intervention on the need to listen to God, maintain trust and strengthen personal bonds. «We find it difficult to listen, to be attentive to the other and to the Other, in capital letters,» he stated, before asking: «Do we listen or are we concerned about what people say about us?»
The archbishop also drew on the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego to speak about fear and trust. «Today the Cinta tells us to raise our gaze, trust in her, do not be afraid,» he noted.
Omella also maintained that «society is walking disoriented and in need of meaning» and asked the Virgin to keep the faithful united to her Son and make them «builders of bonds of fraternity and peace.»
He also insisted on transmitting devotion to new generations: «Do not forget the story of the Virgin of the Cinta, keep it, protect it, teach it to the young.»
Omella’s participation in the festivities continued with the procession, in which he was chosen to carry the Principal Banner of the Royal Archconfraternity of Our Lady of the Cinta. The cardinal was accompanied by Esteve Camps, delegate president of the Junta Constructora of the Sagrada Familia, and Marc Labori, secretary of the archbishop, as bearers of the tassels.