Honorary Academician

Human Sciences: Doctor in Canon and Civil Law

Date of admission: December 12, 2017

Admission speech: «Secularity and Secularism in Western Europe»

Reply speech: Dr. Francesc Torralba Roselló, Doctor in Philosophy and Education Sciences

Outstanding career: Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Barcelona, recognized for his pastoral service, his contribution to interreligious dialogue, and his role in the renewal of the Church in Catalonia.

CARDINAL LLUÍS MARTÍNEZ SISTACH

UNIVERSITY DEGREES

  • Completed secondary education at the Marist Brothers School in Barcelona (1954).
  • Entered the Major Seminary of Barcelona in 1954, where he studied Philosophy and Theology, also earning a Master’s degree.
  • Ordained as a priest on 17 September 1961 by Archbishop Gregorio Modrego Casaus, at the Parish of Santa María de Cornellà.
  • Sent to Rome in 1962 to pursue Canon Law studies at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he obtained his doctorate in utroque iure (1967) with the thesis “The Right of Association in the Church.”

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY

  • 1967: Notary-Secretary of the Ecclesiastical Court of Barcelona, chaplain in Guinardó, religion teacher at IPSE Institute, and diocesan chaplain of Catholic Action for Graduates.
  • 1973: Judge of the 3rd Section of the Ecclesiastical Court of Barcelona.
  • 1979: Appointed Vicar General of Barcelona by Cardinal Narcís Jubany, responsible for coordinating diocesan bodies and the Episcopal, Presbyteral and Pastoral Councils.
  • 1970–1987: Professor of Canon Law at the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia, the Martí Codolar Theological Institute, and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Barcelona.
  • 1983: Elected President of the Spanish Association of Canon Lawyers.
  • 1999–2004: Member of the Social Council for the Catalan Language of the Government of Catalonia.
  • 1971–1997: Deputy Secretary and later Secretary of the Tarraconense Episcopal Conference.
  • 13 November 1987: Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Barcelona by Saint John Paul II. Episcopal ordination on 27 December at the Cathedral of Barcelona, officiated by Cardinal Narcís Jubany.
  • 17 May 1991: Appointed Bishop of Tortosa.
  • 20 February 1997: Appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Tarragona.
  • 15 June 2004: Appointed Archbishop of Barcelona, the first Metropolitan Archbishop after the creation of the new ecclesiastical province.
  • 17 October 2007: Announced as Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
  • 24 November 2007: Created Cardinal at St. Peter’s Basilica, with the title of San Sebastiano alle Catacombe.
  • President of the Episcopal Commission for Legal Affairs of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (1990–2002).
  • Member of the Executive Committee and the Standing Committee of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (2005–2010).
  • President of the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy (2010– ).
  • Vice President of the Tarraconense Episcopal Conference, responsible for Social Pastoral Care in Catalonia.
  • Member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (1996), the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (2002), the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (2006), and the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See (2009).
  • Grand Chancellor of the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia and the Faculty of Philosophy of Catalonia.
  • President of the Christian School Foundation and the Construction Board of the Sagrada Família Foundation.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Doctoral thesis: “The Right of Association in the Church” (1973).
  • The Associations of the Faithful (5 editions, translated into Italian, German, English, and Polish).
  • Revitalising Our Christian Identity (2010).
  • The Sagrada Família: A Dialogue Between Faith and Culture (2012).
  • A Spirituality for Today’s Christian (2012).
  • Christians in the Society of Dialogue and Coexistence (2013).
  • Gaudí: The Man, the Artist, and the Christian (2014).
  • Has published over a hundred articles and pastoral letters on Canon Law, Civil Law, and Church–State relations.

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

  • Honorary Citizen of Tarragona (2007), Banyalbufar (2008), and Camprodon (2010).
  • Doctor Honoris Causa by the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (Dominican Republic, 2011) and by the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Warsaw (2012).
  • Gold Medal of the Ramon Llull University (2011).
  • Gold Medal of the Government of Catalonia (2013).
  • Grand Cross of Justice of the Order of Noble Knights of Catalonia (2013).
  • Honorary Degree from the Barcelona School of Business and Social Sciences (2014).