The priest who had to go into exile to say that "the crown of the King of Spain is the ring of the Catalan people"

GironaOn April 6, 1925, during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, Father Bartomeu Barceló i Tortella (Felanitx, 1888 - Barcelona, ​​​​1973) delivered a fiery pro-independence sermon in Girona Cathedral, which landed him in prison that same day—Holy Monday—and later. Throughout his life, Barceló was a priest committed to the language and to the entire nation, and he never retracted his words, despite the repression he suffered. Next Sunday, he will be honored and that historic event, which will mark one hundred years ago on Sunday, will be remembered. The event will take place on the steps of the cathedral at 12 noon and has been organized by the Association of the Agermanats of Girona and Mallorca.

Bishop Barceló left his native Mallorca at the age of fourteen to study in Figueres at the Vincentian Seminary. He discovered the unity of the language and that "on the other side of the Pyrenees there is also a Catalan people." He completed his novitiate in Barcelona and in May 1914 was ordained a priest in Tortosa. In September of that same year, he went as a missionary to Peru, where he learned Aymara and Quechua to integrate into the indigenous community. In 1916, he returned to Barcelona and in 1918 went to the Palma Mission. By then, Bishop Barceló had already gained a reputation as a good preacher and had begun to write poetry. In Mallorca, he became friends with Joan Alcover and Miquel Costa i Llobera. His superiors weren't pleased with his poetry and his association with the literary figures of the time, and in 1919 he was assigned to teach in Bellpuig d'Urgell. From there, he returned to Figueres, where he consolidated his reputation as a good orator. He was called to preach everywhere, and, according to the contemporary press, people ran to hear him.

Exile and trap

He later returned to Mallorca, where he continued to write poetry successfully, which did not please his superior, who banned him from all activity in Mallorca, not only literary but also ministerial, so he returned to the Empordà. With Ramon Llull in one hand, defending the Catalan language and nation, and Vicenç de Paül in the other, as a symbol of the social struggle for the underprivileged, he wove together vindictive and instructive speeches. He had already made a name for himself and enjoyed prestige, which is why, at 36, he was offered the opportunity to preach in Girona Cathedral.

After his arrest and spending just over a week in prison, Barceló saw that under the Primo de Rivera regime, his options were forced exile or forced banishment. He opted for the latter and took a train from Girona to Paris. Before heading north, he said goodbye to some friends in Figueres, some of whom had helped his mother financially during her most difficult times. In the French capital, he was well received by the superior of his congregation, who suggested he go to London. He rejected the suggestion and preferred to go to northern Catalonia, where the Bishop of Elna-Perpignan, the Occitan Juli Carsalade du Pont, also welcomed him. In September 1925, Mallorca Post Office He published that the case brought against him by the military authorities had been closed, and the following day it was also published in the Girona press. It was a trap set by the authorities to make him trust her, return to Figueres, and arrest her, since they could not tolerate their failure to detain him. Thanks to the efforts of a close friend of his, they warned him and told him not to leave Roussillon. From 1931 to 1934, Barceló collaborated with Nosotros Soles (We Are the Suns), was a friend of Daniel Cardona, and in the 1940s, he was a member of the National Front of Catalonia.

The writer and co-organizer of Sunday's event, Bartomeu Mestre, has discovered in recent months that the Vatican nuncio in Spain, Federico Tedeschini, compiled, after interviewing several attendees of the sermon, a dossier that remained in the Vatican's secret archive until 2007, when Benedict XVI, in vain, declared the event. The dossier is part of a larger folder called The Catalan question. This file contains some of the statements that Mr. Barceló made, such as "the crown of the King of Spain is the ring of the Catalan people." Mr. Barceló returned to Sant Feliu de Guíxols in 1935 to carry out his pastoral work in the new residential area of s'Agaró. With the outbreak of war, he had to go into hiding, and in November 1936, the newspaper Let's Make It reported his possible execution. He went into exile again in Perpignan and died in 1973 in Barcelona.