A missionary experience in Africa,
evangelization and commitment to solidarity organizations are
the hallmarks of Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, Metropolitan
Archbishop of Barcelona and one of the papabili (pope tips).
Born in Cretas, in the archdiocese of Zaragoza, in 1946, he has
a profile that many read in the wake of the papacy of Francis
and his name, in fact, is circulating among his possible
successors.
Among the cardinals, he is one of those who hang around social
media: he has a profile X with over 10 thousand followers where
he publishes religious content.
Omella studies at the seminary in Zaragoza and in the training
centers of the White Fathers in Louvain and Jerusalem, but he
also attends the theological faculty of the Catholic University
of Louvain. In 1970 he became a priest and, after various
intermediate stages, from 1990 onwards he served for seven years
as episcopal vicar of an area in the archdiocese of Zaragoza. A
missionary in Africa for a year (in Zaire), in 1996 he was
appointed titular bishop of Sasabe with the role of auxiliary of
Zaragoza. His great commitment to solidarity led him to be
chosen as national councilor of Manos unidas (1999-2015), the
Catholic Church's charitable organization in Spain for the fight
against hunger.
In 2011 he wrote the pastoral letter "Sowers of the Word,
Missionaries of Hope", inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of
the sending of the first diocesan priests to Burundi and
dedicated to the theme of evangelization. In 2013 he was elected
honorary prior of Our Lady of Valvanera for his role in the
pilgrimage of the virgin, organized by the various
municipalities of La Rioja. In 2014 he became a member of the
congregation for bishops, then he was promoted to archbishop.
Appointed cardinal by Pope Francis in 2017, since 2020 he has
been president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
In 2023 Bergoglio, in renewing the council of cardinals that was
about to expire, included him in it. He is currently also a
member of the dicastery of bishops.
His vocation also emerges fully in one of the last initiatives
illustrated in the Vatican press room while Francis was still
alive: when, in February, the "School Ship of Peace" was
presented (which until next autumn will sail the Southern Sea
with about 200 children on board) Omella is next to Jean-Marc
Aveline - another cardinal eligible for papacy. Both are
involved in the initiative, strongly desired by Bergoglio, which
aims to make young people "messengers" of a new coexistence and
communion between peoples.
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