Communicative: The new bishop of Mallorca

Xavier Salinas is the new Bishop of Mallorca. His appointment will be one that will be of little or no consequence to the overwhelming majority of expatriates on the island, but his is an appointment that is not without importance.

Salinas replaces Jesús Murgui, a bishop who lacked communicative skills to the extent that he never gave a single interview during the eight years of his tenure. He was excused on the grounds of shyness, but communication, be it with churchgoers or the media, comes with the territory. Or it should do. As a consequence of his reticence, Monseñor Murgui was unpopular with the media, and as a further consequence, the media was only too happy to portray him as having been unpopular with his own priests. He was also portrayed, with perhaps greater justification, as one couldn't be entirely sure what his priests really thought of him, as having been firmly on the conservative and reactionary wing of the Catholic Church.

Monseñor Salinas is a breath of fresh air. He is communicative. He has already given interviews and has said that it is important for there to be a dialogue with society. He has spoken about the difficulties that confront society at the present time and, though he has said that it is not his or the Church's intention to be involved in politics, he has given a clear enough signal that he supports Catalan; it is his native tongue, in that he is from Valencia and so speaks the Valencian brand of Catalan.

While Salinas may suggest that the Church doesn't wish to involve itself in politics, the fact is that the Church does just that. Bishop Murgui, without naming names, did so prior to the last national election with his letter regarding the danger of voting for politicians who supported gay marriage, which could easily have been interpreted as having given the thumbs-up to the Partido Popular. Which is of course exactly how it was interpreted.

Declining church attendance has not necessarily been an indication that society is losing its religion, but it can be seen as a turning away from the institution of the Church. Whenever I have spoken to Mallorcans or Spaniards about the Church, the reaction has often been the same. It is one either of contempt or of a shrug of resignation. The Church is lumped in with politicians in being viewed with suspicion or a lack of trust.

There is a difference between having the faith and having faith in the institution which dispenses it, and the fall in attendance in recent times may well be the result of society finally accepting that it doesn't have to be seen to be attending something to which there has been ambivalence for far longer. It may also be the result of the Church being out of step with changes in society's attitudes. While senior figures in the Church might hope for a return to more reactionary attitudes, their wish is unlikely to be granted. The politicians are nibbling at the edges of these attitudes, as with backtracking on advances made under Zapatero with regard to abortion for instance, but the Partido Popular is in danger of being cast in the same light as the Church - out of step.

Rather like the PP is, perhaps deliberately, focusing on issues that might be better left alone, so the Church's hierarchy would be advised to do likewise. It has a role, a very positive role to play during the times of crisis, a role no better demonstrated than through the sterling efforts of its Caritas charitable arm - so badly needed in a country that cannot and shows little desire to look after its people adequately - and its pastoral function is one that it should concentrate on. Instead, it has found itself embroiled in political matters and in controversies over its finances, one of the more spectacular being its stubborn refusal to pay property tax, an arguably scandalous betrayal of society when society is being hit so hard by all sorts of taxes.

Against this background, the more sympathetic figure of Monseñor Salinas is to be welcomed. If he proves to be, as he has already hinted that he will be, a far more accessible voice in local society, and one of sensitivity to the various difficulties Mallorca faces, then he is likely to turn out to be a popular appointment. But popular or not, just how relevant he is to the majority of Mallorcans, let alone foreigners, is another matter.


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