When the case became known, the erotic nature of some of his literary works was highlighted, to which Caballol has defended that these are “two books that I made at a very specific moment in life.” “’Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’ Many have already launched it, believing themselves to be superior in values and morals,” he responded.
The Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan José Omella, then asked not to turn the situation of the Bishop Emeritus “into a morbid novel.”
After contracting a civil marriage in the Peace Court of the town of Súria with Caballol, the Spanish Episcopal Conference recalled in December 2021 through a statement that “it should be noted that the canon 1394.1 of the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church stipulates that ‘the clergyman who attempts a marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a suspension automatic decision‘”.
“From the moment that Bishop Xavier Novell i Gomà contracted a civil marriage, all acts of the power of order, acts of the power of government and the exercise of all the rights and functions inherent to the episcopal office are prohibited” added the text signed by the then Apostolic Administrator Mons. Romà Casanova.