The priest remains bishop but can no longer exercise any function, “both in public and in private”, warns the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
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The youngest bishop of Spain will no longer be able to exercise his functions following his marriage to a woman, the Conference éSpanish piscopal (EEC) on its website. The prelate’s wife also turns out to be the author of erotic novels.
“As is common knowledge, Monsignor Xavier Novell i Goma, Bishop Emeritus of Solsona, got married civilly with Mrs. Silvia Caballol y Clemente on November 22, 2021 in the city of Suria, in the province of Barcelona”, states a press release from the EEC. The institution evokes a “serious fact” and cites canon law, according to which “a cleric who marries, even only civilly, incurs suspension“.
The priest retains his status as bishop but can no longer exercise his functions as “the administration of the sacraments and any other activity of the magisterium, both in public and in private”, explains the EEC. The case erupted at the end of August when the 52-year-old bishop resigned, citing “personal reasons”, according to Spanish media.
Very quickly, her relationship with Silvia Caballol y Clemente, a psychologist who wrote at least two erotic novels, among which Hell in the lust of Gabriel, which evokes madness, sadism and “the struggle between God and Satan”. On her publisher’s website, the writer is described as “a dynamic and transgressive author who has made her place in the difficult world of literature to upset all our moral and ethical considerations”.