The multilingual priest of Torremolinos
Miguel Norbert Ubarri officiates at San Miguel church in Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Italian, Latin and sometimes, with help, even in more languages, to cater to a parishioner base of tourists and foreigners
The monastery of Sagrado Corazón de Jesús in Montemar, the church of Madre del Buen Consejo in the town centre and the church of San Miguel near El Bajondillo, serve an area of Torremolinos which has a high concentration of hotels and tourist accommodation.
The priests in charge of these places of worship are Antonio Jesús Jiménez Sánchez and Miguel Norbert Ubarri. The latter, Puerto Rican by birth, at 60 years old, has been a priest for six years. "A vocation or a belated response," he jokes.
Training
Before donning the cassock, Norbert Ubarri studied language and literature, which enhanced his passion and aptitude for languages. "These are gifts given by the Lord," he says.
With this profile, the arrival of this priest was key to promoting the diocese's key aim, focused precisely on attracting parishioners. As Norbert Ubarri points out, in his parish there is a predominance of foreigners, as opposed to the local population, low in numbers due to young families with children moving out to places where it is easier to find a home. Another effect of gentrification, he argues.
Against this backdrop, the idea of the was In this scenario, the idea of international mass was born: every Sunday at 10.30am in San Miguel church. This is the only Mass celebrated in this way in the Diocese, although there are also rites in other languages, given Malaga’s population diversity.
The service is 50 minutes long, and the priest has not forgotten a piece of advice he was given when he first took the pulpit: "Good masses are like mini-skirts: short and revealing".
"In order to involve everyone, some parts of the mass are at least in two or three languages, such as the antiphon, the homily, the gospel and the prayer of the faithful," he describes.
Therefore, they alternate between English, due to the regular presence of retirees from Ireland, a country with a strong Catholic tradition; French, as there is also a significant number of French-speaking Canadians; Dutch, key to connecting with visitors and the important Torremolinense community from the Netherlands; Italian, for similar reasons, and, if the occasion arises and a volunteer can be found, even Polish, to name but a few of the languages that have been heard at San Miguel.
Moreover, as the priest Miguel points out, "so that we all pray in the same language, we also use Latin", as is the case with the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and even Greek. "I learned English in high school (it should be remembered that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States); French and Dutch, thanks to the 12 years I spent in Holland and Belgium; Italian I also speak confidently... passively, I understand six languages", he sums up.
Despite the hotchpotch, as he explains, the service is on average 50 minutes long. Norbert Ubarri does not forget a piece of advice he was given when he first took the pulpit: "Good masses are like mini-skirts: short and revealing".
The question is whether this mass formula is successful and, according to the international priest, it is: "Although it all depends, I can tell you that this church was one of the few in the centre and, on many occasions, we achieved a full house, which is about 300 people, with two thirds of them foreigners".
A parish that wants to be open-minded, where people who do not do so in their place of origin come to confess, and which is well aware that Torremolinos is the “capital” of the LGTBIQ+ community
Moreover, it is not only the non-nationals who come here, but also those who come from outside Torremolinos and Spaniards from outside Malaga who spend some time in this sought after destination.
And it has all been, practically, by word of mouth, as Norbert Ubarri makes clear, since only a brief message was made to nearby hotels to inform them of this religious service a few years ago.
As well as this service, in addition to Torremolinos itself, which, as the priest points out, is "very special, very diverse, very plural", he explains, "what we do is an open-door pastoral".
This work, in accordance with the mission entrusted to them by the former bishop Jesús Catalá, is ideal for spreading the devotion to the patron saint, San Miguel, and the patron saint of Torremolinos, the Virgen del Carmen, which, thanks to the foreign parishioners, goes beyond the limits of Torremolinos.
A parish that wants to be 'open minded', in keeping with the local customs, which is used by many for confession, because of the "shame" of declaring their sins before the priest of the place where they live, "you know how it is in a small town, news travels fast", explains the Puerto Rican priest with a chuckle; it is regularly attended by foreigners who do not practice their faith in their own countries and, as Miguel Norbert Ubarri happily points out, is no coincidence that Torremolinos is "the capital" of the LGTBIQ+ community.
"We welcome everyone who comes in a special way, so that they feel loved. As Pope Francis said, 'who am I to judge?"
