Bishop of Malaga overcomes sepsis and is discharged from hospital

The bishop of Malaga, Jesús Catalá, has been discharged after his three-week stay at the Vithas hospital. He has recovered from sepsis and his diocese has expressed gratitude for the prayers offered for his recovery.

Jesús Catalá was first admitted to hospital for a scheduled operation to remove a polyp in his bladder on 22 April. On 29 April, he underwent another prostate operation in the morning, but his state deteriorated in the afternoon and he was admitted to the intensive care unit after contracting sepsis. Fortunately, his health has been stabilised and he has now been discharged from the hospital.

However, his bishopric has announced that Catalá would not be able to travel to Rome to witness the procession of the Virgen de la Esperanza.

On 22 December, on his 75th birthday, Catalá presented his resignation to Pope Francis, as he had reached the retirement age established for episcopal duties. However, the bishop remains at the head of the diocese, awaiting the election of a successor by the Holy See.

The replacement will be endorsed by the new Pope Leo XIV, but a date has not been announced. The process of selecting a new bishop involves key roles played by the Pope’s nuncio in Spain, the president of the Spanish episcopal conference, and the archbishop of the ecclesiastical province to which the diocese belongs. Malaga is part of the ecclesiastical province of Granada, headed by archbishop José María Gil Tamayo.

According to Canon 377 of the Code of Canon Law, it is the responsibility of the papal legate or nuncio - a position held until now by the Filipino archbishop Bernardito Auza (who will step down on 21 May after being appointed nuncio to the EU) - to submit to the Holy See a list of three candidates, along with his own opinion, that of the archbishop of Granada and the bishops of the dioceses within that ecclesiastical province (which, in addition to Malaga, includes Almeria, Jaén, Cartagena, and Guadix), as well as the opinion of the president of the episcopal conference - Luis Argüello, archbishop of Valladolid.

Catalá will remain at the head of the diocese with full faculties until a replacement is officially appointed. Once a successor is chosen, his name will be announced by the episcopal conference on its website and social media. The announcement usually takes place at 12pm on the day of the election.