Poblet Monk Vilà Becomes the New Archbishop of Barcelona
Vilà, ex-abbot of Poblet and bishop of Girona, is the new archbishop of Barcelona. Who he is, who backs him and who is attacking him.
Vilà, a monk who was abbot of the Poblet monastery and has been bishop of Girona since 2024, is the new archbishop of Barcelona, according to the Catalan newspaper Ara. Church sources told Ara that the choice has the approval of the current archbishop, Joan Josep Omella, and the praise of Catholic Catalanist figures and organizations.
He takes over a diocese that the same sources describe as split along several lines. His past contacts with former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont have already drawn attacks from the far right.
From Tarragona to Poblet to Girona
Vilà is originally from Tarragona. He worked at the Tarragona Newspaper Library from 1983 to 2005, after graduating in geography and history in 1984 and earning a diploma in librarianship and documentation. He entered the monastery in 2005, when he was over forty, and became abbot in 2015. Before that, between 2000 and 2005, he was secretary of the Brotherhood of Poblet, which Abbot Alegre promoted.
His other roles in those years included secretary of the board of trustees of Poblet and secretary and vice-president of the Bibliographic Archive of Santes Creus from 1998 to 2005. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Montserrat Tarradellas i Macià Archive from 2000 to 2005.
At the end of February 2024, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Girona. That surprised many in the Church because he came straight from leading a monastery. Ecclesiastical sources told Ara that he won the esteem of the faithful in Girona quickly. The mayor of Girona, Lluc Salellas of the CUP (a pro-independence left-wing party), said that “few people could do better as archbishop.”
The Puigdemont link and the far-right campaign
Puigdemont has been close to Poblet since childhood, when he stayed there on some summers. When Puigdemont was president of the Generalitat (the Catalan government), he had contact with the abbot of the time. When Vilà became bishop of Girona, Puigdemont said the choice had “filled him with joy.”
The far right has attacked what it calls a “good friendship” between the two men, using newspaper archives. Ara reports that these groups present the appointment as a victory for Catalan independence after eleven years of an archbishop with a profile distant from that cause. According to the newspaper, radical groups attacked him in Church forums for weeks before the appointment and could not stop it.
Ara also says that Vilà supported the right to decide during the Procés (the Catalan independence push) and favored dialogue, provided the will of the Catalan people was respected. He visited the prisoners, defends the Catalan language and has opposed extremism that spreads hatred toward immigration.
Why it matters
Ecclesiastical sources told Ara that the Barcelona diocese is divided between conservatives and progressives, between Catalan and Spanish nationalism, by social class, and between a more spiritual approach and a more social and welfare-oriented one. His ability to bring people together is one of the qualities most mentioned inside the Church, according to those sources. Politically, they describe him as pro-Catalan but flexible and well connected.
Ara reports that he is among the voices most committed to fighting sexual abuse in the Church. He also intends to promote the role of women and of lay members, and he believes in synodality, the practice of making Church decisions through shared discussion.
Support from other bishops
Ara says Vilà has a profile much like that of Joan Planellas, archbishop of Tarragona. The day after the appointment, the two were due to celebrate a mass together at the Sagrat Cor church in Girona. Vilà also has good relations with the bishops of Lleida and Sant Feliu, and Omella has spoken publicly about that rapport.
Source: Ara
