What is happening in Torreciudad?The Holy See will be the one to decide "the solution" for TorreciudadThe process between the bishopric of Barbastro Monzón and TorreciudadThe Dean of the Roman Rota Tribunal, Msgr. Alejandro Arellano Cedillowill be in charge of studying and resolving the existing conflict between the Prelature of the Opus Dei and the bishop of Barbastro in relation to the Torreciudad.
The daily bulletin of the Holy See dated October 9, 2024 brings a new development regarding the process of talks between the Bishopric of Barbastro and the Prelature of Opus Dei regarding the shrine of Torreciudad. This is the appointment of "H.E. Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, Dean of the Tribunal of the Rota Romana, Pontifical Commissioner Plenipotentiary, Delegate of the Holy See, for the Torreciudad complex (Spain)".
The figure of "pontifical commissary plenipotentiary" refers to a delegate of the Pope who has the authority to act on his behalf in specific matters.
This Commissary has full powers to make decisions and take actions in the ecclesiastical and administrative fields. This type of commissary is appointed by the Pope and his function can cover both judicial and executive aspects within the Church.
In response to the news of the appointment, the Prelature of Opus Dei has stated that "the authorities of the Prelature will be at the total disposition of Bishop Arellano, collaborating in whatever is necessary, with filial adherence to the Holy Father" while, for its part, the diocese of Barbastrina insists that "it has full confidence in reaching with this intervention the resolution of this matter that constitutes an opportunity to regularize the status of Torreciudad and to erect it, canonically, as a sanctuary."
Alejandro Arellano Cedillo
The recently appointed Pontifical Commissioner Plenipotentiary for Torreciudad, Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo is Spanish, a native of Olías del Rey (Toledo).
Bishop Arellano is a member of the Priestly Confraternity of the Operators of the Kingdom of Christ. He completed his ecclesiastical studies at the San Ildefonso Theological Institute and obtained a degree in Ecclesiastical Studies from the Faculty of Theology of Northern Spain.
He then moved to Rome to study for a licentiate and doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest in 1987, in the archdiocese of Toledo.
He has served as Adjunct Judicial Vicar in the Archdiocese of Madrid and diocesan judge in the dioceses of Toledo and Getafe. He was Magistrate of the Tribunal de Rota of the Apostolic Nunciature in Spain and in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Prelate Auditor of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
In 2021 he was appointed dean of the Roman Rota Tribunal by Pope Francis and in the same year was appointed as president of the Court of Appeals of the State of the Vatican City.
He is also a consultor to the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and a consultor to the Dicastery for the Clergy, to which Opus Dei has belonged since it was so decided by the Motu Proprio Ad charisma tuendum.
