Pope Francis was surprised to be asked to bless La Moreneta de Girona in Spanish. It was two weeks ago, on Saturday, October 7th, when the pontiff asked Cardinal Joan Josep Omella about the language used for a text which he had to read when blessing the image of La Moreneta, the Black Madonna figure that is venerated in the cathedral of the Catalan city of Girona. The blessing took place during the audience for pilgrims in Rome from the Confraternity of the Mother of God of Montserrat, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the religion community's foundation. And the Pope saw that the text before him was in Spanish and asked: "Shouldn't it be in Catalan?". The cardinal's answer was a clear "No" and the Pope proceeded to read the "God of tenderness" in Spanish.
Sources from the Archdiocese have told the ACN agency that these kinds of events are well planned and that everything is decided in advance, also recalling that Pope Francis usually uses Italian and Spanish. In addition, they noted that the pontiff did use a Catalan greeting of "Bon dia a tots" - "Good morning to you all" - at the beginning of the audience. Be that as it may, the query about the language of the text to be read took place while the last notes of a song in Catalan were ending. The video showing the sequence is posted on the Abbey of Montserrat's Facebook.
First words of video:
Cardinal Omella: 'God of tenderness' in Spanish, yes".
Pope Francis: "Shouldn't it be in Catalan?"
Cardinal Omella: "No."
The candidate for the new bishop of Girona
On the other hand, Pope Francis has now formally proposed the candidate to be the new bishop of Girona. That is to say, he has signed the acceptance giving his approval to the name that has been sent to him, and now it is pending for the person to accept the position so that the northern Catalonia diocese will have a bishop again. In fact, the leadership of the diocese has been vacant for over a year. The previous bishop, Francesc Pardo, resigned from his post in June 2021 after turning 75 and died on March 31st, 2022. The pilgrims from Girona who took part in the visit to Rome took advantage of the audience to remind the pontiff about the need for a new bishop. It was then that the Pope informed them that the situation had been resolved.
When a vacancy occurs in a diocese, the Code of Canon Law establishes that three names must be proposed to the Holy See - amongst which is the most suitable candidate. The pontiff is in charge of signing the acceptance. The formal proposal passes into the hands of the nuncio, that is the Pope's diplomatic representative, and the Spanish episcopal conference, which communicates it to the candidate, who then has the option of accepting or declining the position. In fact, there had been an earlier renunciation. But now the proposal will go ahead, according to sources consulted by the ACN. From here, two possible scenarios may arise: on the one hand, that the candidate is already a bishop and can assume the position; on the other, that they are not and must be ordained as such.