Bishop Argüello: Pope Francis knows the Catholic Church in Spain very well

This morning Pope Francis received at the Vatican the president and vice president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Mons. Luis Argüello and Cardinal José Cobo, respectively, who were elected in the Plenary Assembly held last March.

Along with them was the secretary general of the Spanish episcopal coordination body, the Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo, Mons. César García Magán.

As detailed by the Archbishop of Valladolid, Mons. Luis Argüello, in statements to the media in Rome, the brief interview took place in an atmosphere “full of affection and also interest” on the part of Pope Francis, of whom he said that “ “He knows the situation of the Spanish Church very well.”

The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Cobo, also holds this opinion, who added that they have found the Pontiff “very well and certainly situated in the face of the Spanish reality that he knows and is completely up to date.”

The vocational question of the Catholic Church in Spain

The Spanish prelates have had the opportunity to present the latest annual report of the EEC and convey “the challenge we have to announce the Gospel, to transmit the faith, to propose life as a vocation,” as detailed by Bishop Arguello.

“The Pope has taken this thread a little and has insisted on the importance of promoting life as a vocation. He has spoken about the importance of the vocation to marriage, of the lay vocation and of course of the vocation to ordained ministry,” added the president of the EEC.

This concern of Pope Francis coincides with the preparation of a congress on the Church lived as a vocation under the motto Who am I for? which will be held in February 2025 in Madrid.

In this sense, Cardinal Cobo added that in the conversation with the Holy Father the “vocational problem” was discussed, which has a direct impact on the number of candidates for the priesthood (less than 1,000 in the last two years). They have also spoken about “how we are undertaking the reform of the seminaries” promoted by the Dicastery for the Clergy after the apostolic visit carried out at the beginning of 2023.

The Catholic Church in Spain against sexual abuse

In the conversation with Pope Francis, there was also space to discuss the management that the Catholic Church that is pilgrim in Spain is carrying out regarding cases of sexual abuse perpetrated in the ecclesiastical sphere.

Cardinal Cobo has pointed out that the Pope has been asked about “the perception we have during these years” and how he has worked to achieve “a change of position in society, so that they see us in a different way, to become aware of the problem ”.

Likewise, the measures taken, the “resources for reparation, support and concern” were addressed in such a way that the issue of abuse has been placed in “the centrality” of the Church in Spain. Cardinal Cobo added that Pope Francis “already was aware of some of what has been done” in this field.

Mons. Argüello has also detailed that they are finalizing the Reparation Plan that they hope to present “in the coming weeks” and for which a commission was appointed made up of specialists from different disciplines who hope that it can be operational “this summer.”

The president of the EEC also explained that although compensation to victims is set by the courts as an “administrative or criminal sanction”, the idea of ​​”comprehensive reparation” that refers to moral, psychological or therapeutic damages, “without a doubt some have an economic impact.”