Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona. Who is he?

He distances himself from the most conservative ideas of hierarchs, at the same time defends himself against the label of the “progress”. Cardinal Juan Jose Omella is 79 years old. He enjoyed the great trust of Pope Francis, to whom he owes the cardinal nomination. Although he admitted, he did not ask for “promotion” and did not even know that he could receive him.

Juan Jose Omella was born in Crete, Aragon, in Spain. He is the son of a farmer and a dressmaker. He claims that from childhood he dreamed to become a priest and serve somewhere in the countryside. Meanwhile, he is one of the 135 cardinals who can cover the Piotr Throne. His name is not mentioned among the favorites, but it is one of those hierarchs who enjoyed the great trust of Pope Francis.

According to journalists “Diario de Leon”, many analysts call Cardinal Omello “progress”, but he reportedly defends himself against such a label. “He expresses deep concern with social inequalities and tries to distance from more conservative clergy. When he was the bishop of Calahorra, he promoted a document entitled” Church with a servant of the poor “, in which he strongly criticized political and financial corruption, defended emigration and said: inequalities are a root of social evil,” we read in the journal.

“The Pope did not call me, (…) he told it to everyone live”

Jose Juan Omella was ordained a priest on September 20, 1970. He began his pastoral work in Saragossa. Then for a year he was a missionary in Zaire. It is believed that it climbed quite quickly after the next levels of his career in church structures. He was 50 years old when the pope John Paul II He appointed Saragossa auxiliary bishop. In 1999 he became the bishop of Barbastro-Monzón, in 2004 the bishop of Calahorra y la Calzada-Logroñood-where he spent 11 years.

Omella strengthened her position all the time. In 2015, thanks to Pope Francis, he took over the archbishopric in Barcelona. Two years later, the Holy Father took him to the Cardinal dignity. In an interview with Rome Report journalist, Omella said he did not expect the cardinal nomination. He learned about her from a friend.

“The Pope did not call me the previous evening to find out what I think, but he said it to everyone live. He was a bishop who was here in the Basilica of St. Peter, who after hearing my name, as we were friends, he called me immediately. I was surprised because I was surprised because I did not expect this message” – said the hierarch.

He admitted that he reacted very emotionally to the news of the cardinal nomination. “I was shocked, I felt a shiver and fear because I said:” What should I do as a cardinal? ”

As for the activities of the cardinal in Vatican It was in 2014 that he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Bishops. Three years later he became a member of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature. In March 2023, Pope Francis appointed Omella a member of the Cardinals' Council, which further strengthened his and so strong position in church structures.

The priest also held significant positions in the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Twice he was the chairman of the Social Ministry Committee, but most importantly, in 2020-2024 he was the chairman of the Episcopal Conference.

The cardinal condemned a change in abortion law in Spain

In 2023, Cardinal Omella quite clearly criticized the change in abortion law in his homeland. It was a law that, among others It enabled women to be made as part of the state healthcare system. She also endured the so -called Three -day time for reflection for women considering abortion.

According to Archbishop Barcelona, ​​such actions were illogical. “Nobody blinks if a child who was in the womb of less than nine months is tortured. But if the child is born prematurely at the age of five months, there is a insistence that his life has been saved!”

A controversial response to a report on sexual abuse in the Church

It was also loud about Cardinal, when on October 27, 2023, a report of a special commission operating at the Ombudsman was published in Spain. From a document that has over 700 pages, it follows that out of the 39-million adult population of the country About 0.6 percent, or 200,000 people, as children, fell victim to sexual abuse on the part of priests.

The data was based on surveys conducted by a commission among the country's citizens. The document also contains testimonies of 487 victims that talk about the emotional price they paid. And the report itself is the result of the earlier investigation of “El Pais” journalists.

Omella as the chairman of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (SEC) took the floor on the report only a day after his publication – said El Pais. In the post in social media, he indicated that the interpretation of the official report by the media, which suggested hundreds of thousands of victims, was wrong. Some victims criticized the chairman of SEC, because according to their opinion, no appropriate investigations were carried out, especially in his archdiocese in Barcelona. It was only after a few weeks that the Spanish hierarchs admitted that the church had something to be ashamed of, and Omella himself asked the victims to forgive.