I have already noted the excellent news of the medical discharge of the Archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, one of the best Spanish prelates at present.
Now I want to highlight a characteristic of the Archbishop of Burgos during his illness which, although naturally required and clearly advisable, was often absent in similar cases. And that is the use by the diocesan bishop of the services of the emeritus bishop for the better service of the diocese. Painful examples, such as the case of the Bishop of Almería Gómez Cantero and his predecessor, or that of the Archbishop of Madrid Osoro and the one who preceded him, are illustrative. Although in both examples the very limited relevance of the latter and the more than notable personality of the predecessors—in the case of Madrid, immense—makes poor men believe that the way to signify their own irrelevance is by disregarding those who preceded them. With the result that the only thing they achieve is to highlight their own irrelevance.
With Iceta, of outstanding personality, there was no trace of an inferiority complex, and his relationship with Fidel Herráez, who preceded him very worthily in Burgos, constitutes a perfect example of how the relationship between a bishop and his predecessor should be.
«His absence from liturgical acts has been largely covered by the Archbishop Emeritus of Burgos, Monsignor Fidel Herráez, with whom he maintains a magnificent fraternal relationship.»
And that should serve as an example in the other dioceses.