Image source, Diocese of Solsona
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Xavier Novell was Spain’s youngest bishop when he was appointed in 2010.
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When Xavier Novell of Spain resigned last month, the Roman Catholic Church said he was stepping down for very personal reasons, without going into details.
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Now Spanish media are reporting that the bishop has fallen in love with a woman who writes satanic erotic fiction.
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In 2010, at the age of 41, Novell became Spain’s youngest bishop. He served in Solsona, northeastern Catalonia.
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He supports so-called conversion therapy for gay people and performs exorcisms or exorcisms.
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His decision to resign with Vatican approval came as a surprise to many, as he was seen as a rising star in the Spanish Catholic Church. He is said to have met several times with Vatican officials as well as the Pope himself.
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Xavier Novell is considered traditional in his comments on abortion but his strong views on homosexuality and his outspoken support for Catalonia’s independence have caused controversy.
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People were surprised when Religión Digital reported that he had fallen in love with Silvia Caballol, a widow who works as a psychologist and author of erotic novels.
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The news site says the former bishop is now looking for work in the Barcelona area as an agronomist.
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Caballol books include The Hell of Gabriel’s Lust and the Amnesia trilogy. In the description for one of his works, the reader is promised a journey into sadism, madness, and lust and the struggle between good and evil, God and Satan, with a storyline that can shake one’s religious values and beliefs.
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Neither the former bishop, now 52, nor the novelist responded to the report although Religión Digital quoted Novell, as saying “I have fallen in love and want to do things right”.
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The diocese responded to this news by insisting that “this story is a very personal matter for him alone”.
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This issue again raises the issue of the practice of celibacy in the Church. In an interview in the past, Xavier Novell admitted that in his youth he once fell in love with an 18 year old girl and then wanted to get married and have children, before deciding on a different path.
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Novell’s change of heart has resulted in a commotion within the Church. Dominican nun Lucía Caram said she was “crazy” and criticized her actions of promoting “conversion therapy”.
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