Pope Francis appointed Bishop Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat, until now Counselor of the Nunciature in the General Affairs Section of the Vatican Secretariat of State, as the new Coadjutor Bishop of Urgell, making him the youngest prelate in Spain .
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 Hierarchyspecialized in the bishops of the world.
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“I ask for your prayer and understanding so that I can exercise the ministry entrusted to me and thus the mission may be a source of holiness for all the people of God who pilgrimage in the eight Archpriests of the Church of Urgell. “I entrust you to the Father in prayer, asking and praying for you, under the protection of the Virgin of Núria,” wrote the bishop-elect in his greeting to the diocesan faithful.
What is a coadjutor bishop?
According to him Code of Canon Lawa coadjutor bishop assists the diocesan bishop in the same way as an auxiliary bishop does, that is, as a collaborator under his authority.
The Pope appoints a coadjutor bishop at the request of the diocesan bishop or when he deems it appropriate. This appointment usually occurs when the diocesan is about to resign or when he has some impediment to continuing with the pastoral government, such as a health problem.
The main difference between the coadjutor and the auxiliary is that the former has the automatic right of succession when the diocesan reaches 75 years of age, the age established for the retirement of bishops.
Who is the new coadjutor bishop of Urgell?
According to biographical data released by Vatican News, the official news media of the Holy See, Msgr. Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is the youngest bishop in Spain. Born on March 19, 1977 in Tivissa, province of Tarragona and diocese of Tortosa.
He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Major Seminary of Tortosa. He was ordained a priest on April 21, 2002.
He obtained a Licentiate and Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome.
He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome and obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
He has held, among others, the following positions: parish priest of La Palma d’Ebre, La Bisbal de Falset and Margalef de Montsant (2002-2005), of Sant Andreu and Sant Pere, in Vandellòs-Hospitalet de l’Infant (2007- 2009); Moderator of the North Coast Pastoral Unit (2008-2009); professor at the Seminario Mayor (2007-2009).
In his diplomatic career he has been Secretary of the Nunciature in Mozambique (2012-2016), in Nicaragua (2016-2017) and in Brazil (2017-2019).
Since 2019 he was Nunciature Counselor in the General Affairs Section of the Secretariat of State.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.