Cardinal Juan José Omella Archives - Page 2 of 2

Catalonia the elephant in the room at Vatican summit on Europe
- Oct 27, 2017
While the Vatican hosted a major summit on Europe on Friday featuring some 350 spiritual and political leaders from across the continent, nobody seemed eager to touch the big European story of the day — Catalonia’s vote to declare independence, and Spain’s move to impose direct rule. That may reflect both the sensitivity of the issue, and the fact that the Church isn’t of one mind.

By Inés San Martín
Pope Francis reportedly against the division of Spain
- Oct 7, 2017
The Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, Ambassador Gerardo Bugallo, had a private meeting with Pope Francis, and afterwards a weekly Catholic magazine Vida Nueva, wrote that the pope spoke to Bugallo about the “Holy See’s position against every self-determination process that is not justified by a process of decolonization.”

By Inés San Martín
Catalonia referendum divides the Church as it does the people
- Sep 30, 2017
As an independence vote looms on Sunday in the Spanish region of Catalonia, the Church seems as badly divided as Spaniards themselves. Officially, they’re urging dialogue and calm, but some Catalonian prelates and clergy are openly supporting the secessionist movement, while others are maintaining their distance from the drive for independence.

By Inés San Martín

Barcelona cardinal visits hospital after tragedy: “No more attacks in the name of God”

Aug 18, 2017

“God is the God of life and love in all religions, especially in ours, in the Catholic world, where God dies to save man. The path of destruction is not religion nor does it come from God and can never be tolerated,” said Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, after visiting wounded in the hospital after the terror attacks.

By Claire Giangravè

Barcelona’s new cardinal is a non-peripheral pastor to the poor

Jun 28, 2017

Archbishop Juan José Omella of Barcelona is the odd man out among the five new cardinals being created by Pope Francis today, because the Catalan capital is a traditional red hat see. It’s a sign of how unorthodox Francis’s cardinal picks have become that the biggest surprise of this consistory was that, in this case, Francis didn’t surprise.

By Austen Ivereigh