The spoiled priest of the 'Turull clan', new prior of Sant Jordi

When the news of the appointment of a new Prior of the Chapel of Sant Jordi of the Palace of the Generalitat came out, many did not even know about the existence of the chapel and much less that a prior was in front of it and that it was appointed (rather proposed) by the president of the Generalitat. Nor did many know the personality of the designated ecclesiastic, beyond the news of his familiarity with former Minister Jordi Turull. But in the ecclesial environments of Barcelona the priest Josep Maria Turull Garriga is well known.

Born in 1966 in Parets del Vallés (Barcelona), the son of one of the local patrician families, the politician's cousin was always the spoiled child of national ecclesial progressivism. The clan is completed with a brother of the priest, Joan , a member of the local convergent committee of the population. Josep Mª Turull studied at the Minor Seminary and was very close to the Youth of Convergence, which led him to boast of that photo in the Plaza de San Pedro next to Jordi Pujol. Protected by theologian Josep María Rovira Belloso , he was sent to study in Rome , although despite the many recommendations, he had to return without passing the doctorate. Already in Barcelona his good placement led him to appear, megaphone in hand, in the demonstration of priests that took place in 2004, in protest at the partition of the diocese established by Pope John Paul II , when they broke away from the archdiocese Barcelona's new demarcations of Terrassa and Sant Feliu de Llobregat . He was chosen to read the protest manifesto. Together with the entire cast of national-progressive priests.

In all likelihood, this image of a protest cleric, together with an effective work of the Germinas Germinabit portal, prevented the Turull priest from being appointed auxiliary bishop of Barcelona. That was the true obsession of Archbishop Lluis Martínez Sistach , who removed land, sea and air to name his Puer Haeres . So much was the insistence of Sistach that extended the mandate of the auxiliary Joan Carrera , who had inherited from Cardinal Carles, until the death of the one in act of service in 2008, with 78 years, three more of having presented the resignation.

But the Turull, who was not a bishop, was pastor of the central parish of San Raimundo de Penyafort (in the Rambla de Catalunya), episcopal vicar with Sistach and later rector of the Seminary and Cathedral canon. In addition, he occupied several episcopal delegations and was a representative of the cathedral council at the Hospital de San Pablo , with the controversy arising from the practice of abortions in a center, in which the Catholic Church participated in his property. When Omella arrived at the headquarters of Barcelona, ​​far from returning him to a parish, he appointed him rector of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia . First rector of the basilica, since, until then, masses were not celebrated normally, only in special events.

'Progre' in Barcelona, ​​conservative in Rome

Certainly painful was his management as rector of the Barcelona Seminary, where priestly vocations, from his arrival, fell to catastrophic figures. So it is that, when the new seminary of Terrassa was created, by Bishop Josep Angel Sáiz Meneses , there were years when that new center, of a smaller diocese if compared with Barcelona, ​​had more seminarians than the one in Barcelona . Another of Turull's great moments, at the head of the vocational center, took place in Rome when the cardinal creation ceremony of Bishop Martínez Sistach was held. The so progressive Turull forced all seminarians to walk in cassocks, wearing the same talar suit. They were times of Benedict XVI and were not worth progressive licenses. The Turull priest was always very contemplative with power. Progress in Barcelona and conservative in Rome. The corresponding music. When independence began to rage, he could be seen dancing sardanas in the Cathedral Square next to stellar flags. Always following the flow.

Now, this priest, true accumulator of charges, has been appointed prior of the Chapel of Sant Jordi del Palau de la Generalitat, with the consequent controversy. Both for the personality of the named and for the chapel itself, although it should be noted that the last responsibility of the designation is of Cardinal Omella .

The Royal Chapel of Sant Jordi is an institution that has six centuries and the appointment of the prior is made at the proposal of the president of the Generalitat, although the archbishop of Barcelona can appoint him or not. In the end, it is he who designates it. And he must be blamed for the appointment of a politicized priest, of a priest representing Catalan nationalism, of a member of the Turull clan and of the last link in national ecclesial progressivism.

It is true that the previous prior, Joan E. Jarque Jutglar , appointed at the time of Tarradellas , was 92 years old, but was limited to accompany the cardinal of Barcelona at the mass of the festival of Sant Jordi. Nobody is surprised that the activity of the new prior is more political. That Torra has proposed it, after so many years without renewing the position, he does not predict anything good.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project