The world – Digital edition. Jose Manuel Vidal | Madrid
star fruit for some. Historical change in the Spanish Church for others. The fact is that this Thursday, We will all always remember the beginning of these celebrations with a singular act 28 of August, It will go down in Spanish ecclesiastical annals as the day Cardinal Rouco Varela leaves and leaves his post in Madrid to Carlos Osoro, who will be succeeded by Cardinal Antonio Cañizares in Valencia. forecasts come true. This was the pool that had been considered for months. What is unprecedented is that the two appointments are announced at the same time and on the same day.
Go Rouco Varela (villalba, 1936) and not in the way that he wanted and had planned. The already apostolic administrator of Madrid had pressured Rome to succeed his faithful auxiliary bishop, Fidel Herraez, and for the appointment of his successor to be announced in September. But the Pope did not compromise either on the name of his successor or on the date of the publication of his pass to the reserve.
Cardinal Rouco leaves and, with his departure from the first scene of the Church, a cycle is closed. A long cycle of almost 24 years, in which the cardinal from Madrid acted as a true “vicepapa” español. List, implemented a control strategy, which secured him all ecclesiastical power for decades. He was the man from Rome in Spain. With John Paul II and, especially, with Benedict XVI. But, With the arrival of Francis to the pontifical throne, his star began to fade. He was not and could not be Bergoglio's man in Spain. Between the two there are too many differences in substance and form.
against your wishes, the man called by the Pope to put the Madrid archdiocese and, by contagion, to the Spanish Church at the time of Francis is the until now Archbishop of Valencia, Carlos Osorio (castaneda, 1945). kindly, near, pastoral and with an incomparable capacity for work, the new archbishop of Madrid is a prelate of those who walks the streets.
In fact, the last time Francis saw him in Rome he called him “the pilgrim”, because of how much he likes to be at the foot of pastoral work, always present in all kinds of social events, civilians and, especially, pastoral. An all-round bishop in pastoral matters and moderate in ecclesial matters.
A prelate who has struggled in a thousand battles and whose worth led him from Orense arrives in Madrid, his first diocese, to Oviedo, passing through Valencia, to finally arrive in Madrid. to their 69 years, you have left 6 skilful, until you present your resignation to comply with the 75.
Enough time for Osoro to become the calm leader and “Franciscan” of the Spanish Church. For being Archbishop of Madrid, will soon attain the cardinal's cap and, three years from now, when the mandate of Monsignor Blázquez ends, has all the ballots to succeed him at the head of the Spanish episcopate.
from his hand, in Madrid a quiet change will be launched, based on three premises or three axes, who was the ones who directed his episcopal work in Galicia, Asturias or Valencia: even pastoral, dialogue and ecclesial involvement of all. Osoro has given proof, during all these years, what, like Francis, He is in favor of a Church on the way out. A Church that mixes with the sorrows and joys of the people, attentive to the signs of the times and consumed by the zeal of God. A Church without tedium and without fondness for stove groups, closed in on themselves and without contact with the real life of the people.
In second place, a dialoguing Church. With everyone and without red lines or impositions. inward dialogue, with all sectors and various ecclesial sensibilities. Without denying its existence and recognizing its value. And dialogue abroad with civil society and its political representatives. Without opting for any. Return to the thesis of Cardinal Tarancón: The Church neutral and as moral authority. Free and nonpartisan, to be able to exercise, also freely, his capacity for prophetic denunciation.
Y, Thus, a Church of all and for all. Osoro comes to Madrid to add, to bring together in the diocesan Church all ecclesial organizations and movements. The Neocatechumenal Way will have a place with it (popularly known as the Kikos), Opus Dei and other neoconservative movements. But Catholic Action will also be part of the game, the specialized movements of the working world, the simple people of the parishes or the priests of Vallecas and San Carlos Borromeo. Yes indeed, without falling into the arms of any of them exclusively.
Madrid gains a close archbishop, simple, with the smell of sheep, of the rope of Francis. call in Madrid “the pilgrim”. and to stay. Y, From Madrid, his pastoral imprint can infect the Church of Spain and awaken it from its tedium.
A changed Cañizares
To succeed him in Valencia (a diocese that Osoro put in his pocket very soon and until now), The Pope has opted for Cardinal Cañizares (utiel, 1945) what, thus, return to Spain. He had gone to Rome, called by Pope Ratzinger, to deal with liturgical affairs. By pure obedience and by pressure from Rouco, that he did not want him to continue shadowing him from the nearby archdiocese of Toledo. And his heart stayed in Spain.
He is not a curial or office bishop. catechetical specialist, he likes direct pastoral care and the pastoral governance of a diocese. Y, since Francis arrived in Rome, asked him to send him back to Spain. Months ago the Pope told him that he would return to Spain, but without specifying “neither when nor where”. The papal mystery has just been cleared up: arrives in Valencia, his homeland girl.
And he arrives wanting to be a prophet in his own land. Y, also, come back changed. The passage through Rome has focused. Gone is his image as a cardinal of Spain, Recaredo again or little Ratzinger. He returns much more open and dialoguing. Much more “Franciscan” Y, of course, much more moderate at all levels.
In Valencia, a diocese that walks, that is underway, Driven by the pastoral zeal of Monsignor Osoro. A rich diocese in every way, with well-prepared lay people and vocations. And Valencia will have a cardinal again, after the death of Agustín García Gasco.
With Blázquez on the way out, Osoro and Cañizares (almost the same age) They are called to lead the Spanish Church in the coming years. With the addition of the new Archbishop of Barcelona (still unnamed, although Cardinal Sistach already has two years of extension in office) and the military archbishop, Juan del Rio.
the circumstance is given, also, that the three are friends and the three are going to bet on a much more collegial ecclesiastical leadership than that exercised by Cardinal Rouco Varela. Much more in keeping with the new spring winds that are blowing in Rome at the hands of Francis. With the departure of the cardinal from Madrid, the “plug” who kept the ecclesial springs in check. The Rouco era ends and a new stage of peaceful change in the Spanish Church begins, heading towards moderation. A Church that will stop being customs to become a field hospital. As the Gospels say and as Pope Francis wants.
