February 20, 2011. This is the youngest bishop in Spain and the eighth youngest in the world. Monsignor Xavier Novell is only 41 years old. Before becoming a priest, he was an agricultural engineer and a passionate admirer of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Msgr. Xavier Novell Gomá
Bishop of Solsona (Spain)
“I'm bringing a message from a man in my diocese for the Holy Father. He asked me to tell him that 'he is the best pope of modern times, the best pope the Church has had since the modern era'. I am personally delighted to read his speeches and homilies.”
Because of his age, Bishop Novell belongs to the so-called “Generation Papa-boys,” the group of youth who discovered the Catholic faith through Pope John Paul II. During a meeting between the Pope and a group of youth, the now bishop, began to see the Pope in another light.
Msgr. Xavier Novell Gomá
Bishop of Solsona (Spain)
“In the ecclesial circles which I was a part of, John Paul II did not receive very good press and I therefore had to wait for a conversion with Pope John Paul II. But I changed my mind when I started reading and I began to also discover here in Rome his true image, not through the filter like I had seen before. I thought this is a man of God, this is a man who is moving and projecting the Church and Gospel to the entire world.”
His age makes him a good ambassador for the upcoming World Youth Day 2011. In his view, the Pope wanted to hold the event in Spain to send a strong message to the West.
Msgr. Xavier Novell Gomá
Bishop of Solsona (Spain)
“The Holy Father sees that in Spain there has been a rapid cultural change and a clear marginalization of the faith and of the Church and therefore wants to help the Church in Spain with this public display of faith.”This is not to say that this young bishop deals only with the youth. In his diocese he has met with each one the priests, he's also driving the search for new vocations and has begun to hold meetings to re-explain Catholic doctrine to adults who have lost faith. He's a bishop for the Church into the twenty-first century.
JMB/AE
FF
JM
-PR
