Barcelona: Archbishop Octavi Vilà Mayo succeeds Cardinal Omella, archbishop since 2015

Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Girona on 29 February 2024. He received episcopal ordination on 21 April 2024 in the Cathedral of Girona. He therefore arrives in Barcelona after two and a half years as a bishop. In a message addressed to the clergy of Girona and reported by the Diari de Tarragona, he said he was accepting his new responsibility "with obedience."

An installation on 19 December

The takeover of the see is set for 19 December. According to Vida Nueva and the Diari de Tarragona, the celebration will take place at the Sagrada Família. Vida Nueva explains this choice by the ongoing work at the cathedral. EWTN News describes the sequence of events somewhat differently: the canonical taking of possession would take place at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, before the inaugural Mass at the Sagrada Família.

Cardinal Omella bade farewell on the very day of the announcement. "I am leaving in love with this land and with you," he said, according to Vida Nueva. He will not remain in Barcelona and will retire to the priests' residence in Zaragoza, "because I do not want to overshadow the one who comes after me."

Cardinal Omella, a non-elector since April

According to his official biography published by the Holy See, Juan José Omella Omella was born on 21 April 1946 in Cretas, in Aragon. He was ordained a priest on 20 September 1970. Before Barcelona, he was auxiliary bishop of Zaragoza, then bishop of Barbastro-Monzón and of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño. Francis appointed him to Barcelona in November 2015, and he became archbishop on 26 December that year.

Francis created him a cardinal at the consistory of 28 June 2017, with the title of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. He presided over the Spanish Episcopal Conference from 2020 to 2024. Francis appointed him a member of the Council of Cardinals in March 2023.

Cardinal Omella turned 80 on 21 April 2026. Under the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, he thereby lost the right to enter the conclave to elect the pope. He remains a member of the College of Cardinals, but is no longer counted among the electors. His departure from Barcelona therefore does not change the number of cardinal electors. Bishops are invited to submit their resignation to the pope at 75, an age that Cardinal Omella had reached in April 2021. He remained in office until Leo XIV appointed his successor.

Barcelona, traditionally a cardinalatial see

In Spain, several major sees are traditionally entrusted to archbishops who receive the red hat, Barcelona among them. Its most recent incumbents were created cardinals during their Catalan episcopate, and Cardinal Omella is the latest example. The title of cardinal, however, is never attached by right to a see: it depends solely on the pope's choice. No announcement has been made in this regard for Archbishop Vilà Mayo.

In Madrid, another major Spanish see, Archbishop José Cobo Cano has been a cardinal since 2023. His predecessor in Madrid, Carlos Osoro Sierra, and Antonio Cañizares Llovera, archbishop emeritus of Valencia, have also passed the age of 80.