Pope names new bishop of Barcelona

15 June 2004

VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II named Lluis Martinez Sistach the new archbishop of Barcelona Tuesday.

The Pope divided this archdiocese into the three new dioceses of Barcelona, Terrassa and Sant Feliu de Llobregat, the Vatican said.

The 67-year-old Martinez Sistach, until now the archbishop of Tarragona, will replace Cardinal Ricard Maria Carles, who handed in his resignation almost three years ago, citing his advanced age.

Carles has spent 14 years at the head of the Barcelona archdiocese, Europe’s second largest after Milan.

Father Jaume Pujol Balcells, a 60-year-old Opus Dei member, was designated archbishop of Tarragona.

The pontiff Tuesday also accepted the resignation of Barcelona’s auxiliary bishop, Pere Tena Garriga.

As the first bishop of the newly created Terrassa diocese, John Paul selected Josep Angel Saiz Meneses, who had previously been the auxiliary bishop of Barcelona, and Agustin Cortes Soriano, until now the bishop of Ibiza, will be in charge in Sant Feliu de Llobregat.

The new diocese of Barcelona was promoted to Metropolitan See, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls said, adding the division had been under consideration since the 1980s.

The number of the faithful in the new Barcelona diocese is still nearly 2 million, while the dioceses of Terrassa and Sant Feliu de Llobregat have 1 million and 670,000 inhabitants, respectively.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news