Vatican authority ordains the youngest bishop of Spain at 47 years old, on Saint Matthew’s Day

The Substitute of the Vatican Secretariat of State, Bishop Edgar Peña Parra, has been the main consecrator of the ordination of the youngest bishop in Spain, Bishop Josep Lluís Serrano Pentinat, new coadjutor bishop of Urgell in Catalonia.

At just over 47 years of age, Bishop Serrano becomes the youngest bishop in Spain, a place held until now by Bishop José Antonio Álvarez Sánchez, Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid, according to the website Catholic Hierarchyspecializing in Catholic bishops around the world.

According to the bishopric of Urgellthe ordination of Mons. Serrano was celebrated this Saturday, September 21, the feast of San Mateo, in a crowded Cathedral of Santa María de Urgell, a temple in which the last ordination of this type was carried out in January 1971, more than 53 years old.

Mons. Serrano, until now Nunciature Counselor of the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, has had as co-consecrators Mons. Joan-Enric Vives Sicilia, Archbishop of Urgell and Co-Prince of Andorra, Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Mons. Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio in Spain, and 30 other bishops.

Various authorities from the Principality of Andorra and the Generalitat of Catalonia were present at the Mass, in addition to the family of the new bishop.

After the initial greetings, the ordination ritual began with the Come Creator Spiritwhich invokes the presence of the Holy Spirit. Then the presentation of Mons. Serrano was made and a priest read the request for ordination, after which the apostolic mandate was read with the bull of Pope Francis.

The homily of Bishop Peña Parra on the feast of Saint Matthew

“Bring the word of God to a distracted world, especially to young people, whose hearts burn with hope,” Bishop Peña Parra exhorted Bishop Serrano and reminded him that every bishop “is, above all, an Evangelizer for his people.”

According to Vatican Newsthe Substitute highlighted that, in the case of the youngest bishop of Spain, “this vocation, always the same and always new, led her to listen to and follow Christ in the diplomatic service of the Holy See: an increasingly demanding follow-up and exciting, which expanded the horizons of his priestly mission from Spain to Italy, and then throughout the world.”

Later, the Vatican authority encouraged people to be like Jesus: “a holy man, a faithful successor of the Apostles and a passionate witness of the Good News, which is the Gospel of Jesus.”

“The Lord illuminates the hope of the vocation: he calls those who do not wait for him, those who have no merit. And his word is the word of salvation, which gives new life,” he remarked.

This is demonstrated by the story of the evangelist Saint Matthew, “a lifelong servant of power and money” who, after the call of Jesus, finds “freedom and strength.”

“Dear Don José Luis, do the same! In the Gospel the truth of our life is told: your life tells the truth of the Gospel,” encouraged the Substitute.

Litany of Saints and laying on of hands

The note from the bishopric of Urgell then indicates that after the homily the promise of the new bishop was continued, publicly questioned about his disposition for the episcopal ministry.

Then Monsignor Serrano prostrated himself on the ground and the Litany of the Saints was sung and then received the imposition of hands from the bishops present.

The rite continued with the anointing of the head with the Holy Chrism, the delivery of the Book of the Gospels and the episcopal insignia: the miter, the staff and the ring; and the bishops present have given the embrace of peace to the new prelate.