Youngest archbishop in Spain installed in Oviedo

Oviedo, Spain, Feb 2, 2010 / 17:12 pm

Last weekend Bishop Jesus Sanz Montes became the youngest archbishop in Spain after being installed as the new ordinary of the historic Archdiocese of Oviedo.

Previously, the new archbishop was head of the Diocese of Huesca-Jaca, located in northeast Spain.

During his installation ceremony, Archbishop Sanz Montes, 54, thanked the 39 prelates in attendance and expressed his commitment to defending life from conception to natural death.

In his homily at the Cathedral of Oviedo, Archbishop Sanz Montes said he was not seeking “praise nor applause” and that he was not afraid “of unpopularity.”

The archbishop has spoken out against the Spanish government's acceptance of abortion in recent years.  In a pastoral letter last October, the then-Bishop of Huesca-Jaca criticized leaders for calling abortion a “right,” which, he explained, is “a venomous source of immorality and injustice that mars the entire law.”