Santiago de Compostela, April 1 (EFE).- The Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Julián Barrio Barrio, announced this Saturday that he is leaving office after 27 years, once the appointment of the hitherto auxiliary bishop was made official this afternoon. of the diocese of Compostela, Francisco José Prieto Fernández, who will take possession on June 3 in an act of consecration in the Cathedral.
“During all this time I have felt at home; welcomed, understood, supported, helped, in the easy days, which have been the majority, and also in the difficult ones, which have not been lacking”, Barrio pointed out in a statement at the headquarters of the Archdiocese, where he was accompanied by his successor.
Barrio took office on February 25, 1996, 27 years ago, after being appointed by Pope John Paul II a month earlier, on January 5 of the same year.
Previously, he held the position of auxiliary bishop of Santiago de Compostela, a position in which he was consecrated in February 1993, in the middle of the ecclesiastical jubilee year.
That year it also served as the launch of the Xacobeo brand linked to pilgrimages to the Galician capital along the different Jacobean routes, promoted by the then Minister Víctor Manuel Vázquez Portomeñe.
Since then, the Jacobean year and the Jubilee year have gone hand in hand in a successful tourist and commercial campaign, which until now had its religious culmination in the Jacobean year 2010, with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.
The pandemic and other internal vicissitudes, however, prevented Pope Francis from going to Santiago de Compostela in the double Jacobean year that just ended, 2021-2022.
In the tourist-religious part, the number of official pilgrims, those who receive the so-called Compostela, broke all records in 2022, with more than 400,000 certifications.
During his time there was also news that went around the world, the theft of the Calixtino Codex in 2011 by a former employee of the Cathedral and that it took a year to be recovered.
Barrio was born in Manganeses de la Polvorosa (Zamora) in August 1946, so next summer he will be 77 years old.
At the age of 75, the bishops must leave office, although it is the Pope’s decision when the replacement takes place.
According to the page of the Episcopal Conference, Barrio studied Humanities and Philosophy at the Diocesan Seminary of Astorga.
He has a degree in Theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca (1971), a PhD in Church History from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome (1976) and a degree in Philosophy and Letters, Geography and History Section, from the University of Oviedo (1979). ).
Among other distinctions, Barrio has received the Gold Medal of the City of Santiago and has the Title of Adoptive Son of this city. In addition, he is also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem and a member of the Confraternity of Nosa Señora da Conceçao.
He has been part of the permanent commission of the Episcopal Conference since March 2020.
The new archbishop, whose appointment has been made official this afternoon, will be consecrated on June 3 in the Cathedral of Santiago.
Francisco José Prieto Fernández (Ourense, 1968) arrived in the Galician capital as auxiliary bishop just two years ago, also in a jubilee year.
In homage to the Orense origin of the new head of the Archdiocese, this Saturday’s press conference was held in a room of the Archdiocese under a portrait of Cardinal Quiroga Palacios, the last archbishop of Santiago in that province.
Francisco José Prieto Fernández studied ecclesiastical studies at the “Divino Maestro” Theological Institute of Ourense, a center affiliated with the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of Salamanca (1986-1992) and was ordained a priest in 1993.
He has a degree in Patristic Theology from the Gregorian University of Rome (1992-1994) and a doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of Salamanca (2008).