Saiz Meneses, 64, succeeds Bishop Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina, who has held the reins of the diocese for the past 12 years and who will be 75 years old on October 15, 2020.
Saiz Meneses has been, until now, the first bishop of Tarrassa, a diocese created in 2004, and in which he has promoted, among others, the Diocesan Major Seminary of St. John the Baptist and the Diocesan Minor Seminary of Our Lady of Health.
Saiz Meneses will take possession of the see of Seville on June 12, when he will become the pastor of the Archdiocese of Seville, with a long history and a varied Christian life in which, naturally, the deep-rooted tradition of faith of the Brotherhoods and Confraternities throughout the diocese stands out.
"You have to love the Brotherhoods and dedicate time to them".
In an interview with Omneswhich will be published in its entirety on Sunday, April 18, Bishop Juan José AsenjoHe gives some hints about the figure of his successor in the see of Seville. Referring specifically to that "great dam against secularization that are the Seville Brotherhoods" he stressed that "I am convinced that despising the Brotherhoods is a very arrogant and unintelligent position. To my successor I will always tell him to love them, to appreciate them and to know them, to dedicate time to the Brotherhoods".
Bishop Asenjo, who in October 2020 had presented his resignation to the Holy See at the age of 75, had asked on several occasions that the succession process be accelerated due to his physical limitations and the appointment of Santiago Gómez Sierra as Bishop of Huelva, thus leaving Seville without an auxiliary bishop.
Biography of Msgr. José Ángel Saiz Meneses
Born on August 2, 1956, Bishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses was born in Sisante (Cuenca). At the age of 9, the family moved to Barcelona, where, three years later, he entered the Minor Seminary of Our Lady of Montalegre. He studied Psychology at the University of Barcelona between 1975 and 1977 and, from that year on, he studied Philosophy, Spirituality and Theology at the Major Seminary of Toledo (1977-1984).
Ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Toledo on July 15, 1984, that same year he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Theology from the Faculty of Theology of Burgos.
His first years of pastoral work took place in the diocese of Toledo where he served as rector in Los Alares and Anchuras de los Montes and later as vicar of Illescas (1986-1989). Likewise, he was also a zone councilor of the Teams of Our Lady, zone councilor of the Movement of Christian Teachers and professors and religion teacher in the School of FP La Sagra in Illescas.
In 1989 he returned to Barcelona. There he was appointed vicar in the parish of Sant Andreu del Palomar, and in 1992 parish priest of the Church of the Virgin of the Rosary in Cerdanyola and exercised a remarkable work in university environments as Head of the University Pastoral at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, responsible for SAFOR (Service of Assistance and Religious Formation) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Head of the CCUC (Christian Center of University Students of Cerdanyola del Vallès).
In 1995 he was appointed Diocesan Consiliary of the Cursillos in Christianity Movement, a movement that this prelate knows in depth.
He obtained his degree from the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia in 1993.
In May 2000 he was appointed Secretary General and Chancellor of the Archbishopric of Barcelona and a year later, member of the College of Consultors of the same archdiocese.
Bishop of a newly created diocese
On October 30, 2001 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Barcelona and consecrated on December 15 of the same year in the Cathedral. Three years later, on June 15, 2004, he was named the first bishop of the newly erected diocese of Terrassa and Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Barcelona and the new diocese of Sant Feliu de Llobregat. On July 25, he was solemnly installed in the Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Spirit in Terrassa. He arrives in Seville after the resignation of Bishop Asenjo, having reached 75 years of age, as established by the Code of Canon Law in canon 401 §1.
EEC positions
In the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Bishop Saiz Meneses is a member of the Executive Commission, a position to which he was elected on March 3, 2020. He is also a member of the Permanent Commission.
He was a member of the Episcopal Commission for the Secular Apostolate and Episcopal Commission for Pastoral Ministry since March 2017. Previously, he has been president of the Commission for Seminaries and Universities. In addition, he has been a member of the Commission for Teaching and Catechesis from 2002 to 2005. From 2005 to 2008, he was a member of the Commission for Consecrated Life.
He has written several books, including "Los Cursillos de Cristiandad. Genesis and theology" or "Row out to sea" in which he collects the Sunday letters of the first three courses of the new diocese of Terrassa along with the catechesis given by the first bishop of Terrassa at the World Youth Day in Cologne.
