He was the youngest bishop in Spain and one of the most mediatic thanks to his weekly publications in which he spoke openly about any current topic, such as politicians. Xavier Novell, 52, has submitted his resignation to the Bishopric of Solsona, where he has been since 2010, "for strictly personal reasons" and the Holy See has accepted it. Novell showed in his writings and public statements his position in favor of a referendum and the right to self-determination of Catalonia, in addition to the freedom of independence prisoners, as well as his position against abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia.

The bishopric pointed out that the resignation comes "after a period of reflection, discernment and prayer, at the end of which he has spontaneously presented to the Holy Father his own situation and his resignation from the pastoral government of the diocese of Solsona." This Monday the Holy See made public the acceptance 'simpliciter' of the resignation of the pastoral government of the diocese of Solsona of Xavier Novell, and has appointed the current bishop of Vic, neighboring diocese, Romà Casanova, as Apostolic Administrator of Solsona during the seat vacant.

In addition, the Bishopric stressed that the diocesan community of Solsona "welcomes this difficult moment with the trust placed in God, Supreme Shepherd of the Church, and raises its prayers for the Holy Father, for Monsignor Novell and for the Apostolic Administrator." With a degree in Technical Agricultural Engineering from the University of Lleida and a doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Novell was ordained a priest on July 6, 1997 in Tàrrega and was a professor of Theological Anthropology at the Institute of Religious Sciences.

Until now, the bishop was in favor of the self-determination of Catalonia and encouraged people to vote in the illegal referendum on November 1. He also advocated in his Sunday letter on January 8 that the Christian Democrats should present themselves alone in Catalonia to the autonomous ones and regretted that they have spread between PSC and ERC, parties that he believes do not defend Catholic ideas and convictions.

In one of his last Sunday letters, on June 25, Novell, under the title "Let's bet on life", described the new euthanasia law as "worrying" and recalled that his diocese had created a commission "to raise awareness on the renewed importance of accompanying the end of life in a Christian manner, helping everyone to prepare and register advance directives that exclude euthanasia, and promote conscientious objection to this law among health professionals ". In another Sunday letter, on February 26, he showed his belligerence against abortion by defending that it is the "most serious and terrible genocide of our humanity" and called abortion an "abominable crime."

He also promoted the initiative of the international pro-life organization "40 days for life" to start campaigns to denounce the practice of abortion.

"I have never stopped denouncing the most serious and terrible genocide of our humanity: abortion. I have also tried not to remain inactive and have promoted small initiatives to help pregnant women pressured by family, doctors or socioeconomic circumstances to abort. "Novell explained.

The LGTBI entity La Cugula collected up to 300 signatures to denounce Novell's "homophobic and misogynistic speeches", which in its glosses assured that homosexuals are homosexual due to the lack of a father figure.

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