born 21 April 1946) is a Spanish

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He has been the Archbishop of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

since the end of 2015, a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

since 28 June 2017, and president of the Episcopal Conference of Spain since 3 March 2020.

Biography

Omella was born in the village of Cretas in the Catalan-speaking part of Aragon. One of his sisters still lives there, while the other died at a young age. The village priest convinced him to enter the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

. He studied at education centres for

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as well. On 20 September 1970 he was ordained a priest. He then worked for the church in Zaragoza and in

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him auxiliary bishop of

on 15 July 1996 and he was consecrated a bishop on 22 September by Elías Yanes Alvarez, Archbishop of Zaragoza. John Paul II named him bishop of Barbastro-Monzón in 1999. He held the posts of Apostolic Administrator of

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

and of

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ea ...

from 2001 to 2003. In 2004 he was named bishop of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño. He has been a member of the Commission of Social Ministry of the

Spanish Episcopal Conference The Spanish Episcopal Conference ( es, Conferencia Episcopal Española, ca, Conferència Episcopal Espanyola) is an administrative institution composed of all the bishops of the dioceses of Spain and Andorra, in communion with the Roman Pontiff a ...

since 1996 and president of that commission from 2002 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2017. On 6 November 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed him a member of the

Congregation for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usually followed. The Dic ...

. According to ''

El Periodico EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

'', Omella engineered the November 2014 early retirement of

Manuel Ureña Pastor Manuel Ureña Pastor (born 4 March 1945) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who became a bishop in 1988 and served as ordinary in Ibiza, Alcalá de Henares, and Cartagena before becoming Archbishop of Zaragoza, the position he held fro ...

as Archbishop of Zaragoza, whom the local press later reported had mishandled a charge of harassment against one of his priests. On 6 November 2015, Pope Francis appointed Omella Archbishop of

. He was installed there on 26 December. On 21 May 2017, Pope Francis announced plans to make him a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 28 June 2017. '' El Diario'' said the appointment made clear that Pope Francis's preferred representatives in Spain were Omella and

Carlos Osoro Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

, the Archbishop of Madrid whom Francis made a cardinal in 2016, and not the recently elected leadership of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, perceived as more conservative. It noted that Omella's appointment to the Congregation for Bishops positioned him to influence the future of church leadership in Spain. It cited as well his pastoral letters on social issues and ties to , which focuses on the problems of developing nations. The consistory was held on 28 June as scheduled. He was created as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Following the Catalan independence referendum in 2017 the Catalan government suggested that Omella and the Abbot of Montserrat should act as mediators between the region and Spanish authorities. Francis made him a member of the

and of the

Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

on 23 December 2017. Omella is the co-author, with Miguel Pothoes Mombiela and José María Navarro, of ''La aurora de Calanda, una antigua institución'', published in 1991.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omella, Juan Jose 1946 births Living people People from the Province of Teruel 21st-century Spanish cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Francis Archbishops of Barcelona Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II