Luis Argüello (archbishop)

Contents

Luis Javier Argüello García (born 16 May 1953)[1] is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. He was named archbishop of Valladolid in 2022 and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference in 2024.

Biography

Born in Meneses de Campos in the Province of Palencia, Argüello was sent to Valladolid at age 11 to study at a Salesian school. He enrolled at the University of Valladolid in 1971 to study administrative law, and joined anti-Francoist protests. When Francisco Franco closed the university in 1975, Argüello travelled with the Communist Party of Spain to meet with other student groups. In 1983, he was arrested in a protest against Spain's admission to NATO.[2]

Argüello was ordained in 1986.[3] From 1986 to 1997 he was a teacher at the seminary, then its rector until 2011. On 14 April 2016, Pope Francis named him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Valladolid and titular bishop of Ipagro.[4] On 3 June, he was ordained as a bishop by archbishop-cardinal Ricardo Blázquez.[5]

On 17 June 2022, Blázquez stepped down due to age and Pope Francis named Argüello his successor as archbishop of Valladolid.[6] Twelve days later at St. Peter's Basilica, the pope gave him the archbishop's pallium.[7] On 30 July, the ceremony was held at Valladolid Cathedral to make him the diocese's 41st bishop since its constitution in 1596.[8]

Argüello was elected secretary-general of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, representing the country's Catholic bishops, in 2018. On 4 March 2024, with 48 out of 78 votes, he was voted president of the organisation for the next four-year term, succeeding cardinal-archbishop of Barcelona Juan José Omella, who could not continue due to age.[9]

In March 2026, the Catholic Church in Spain and the government reached an agreement for compensation for victims of church sexual abuse whose abusers were deceased or the crimes too long ago to prosecute. The Associated Press described the church-state partnership as unusual.[10]

Views

LGBT

In 2018, Argüello said that all seminary students must be "males, therefore heterosexuals". He then apologised for insinuating that gay men are not male.[11]

Argüello said in October 2022 that Spain's Ley Trans on transgender rights was "absurd" because it "depathologised" being transgender. He considered the law to be dangerous to children.[12]

In January 2025, in dialogue with Minister of Equality Ana Redondo, Argüello said that a project called "Transformados" which was reported to be conversion therapy for homosexuals was material calling for any people to convert to Christianity.[13] Regarding reports of married gay people being prohibited from taking communion, Argüello told Redondo that all Catholics in a state of grace could take communion, regardless of sexual orientation.[13]

Freedom of religion

At the start of 2025, Argüello took issue with publicly funded Televisión Española broadcasting an image of the Sacred Heart with a cartoon bull's head over Jesus's head. He said that freedom of expression was not an acceptable excuse to insult religious beliefs.[14]

Later that year, Argüello opposed a People's Party motion in Jumilla to ban non-sporting activities in municipal sports centres. The decision had been made after such centres had hosted Muslim events. Argüello then called for reciprocity and for Muslims to defend Christians' rights.[15]

Politics

In December 2025, Argüello called for a snap election or motion of no confidence due to prime minister Pedro Sánchez from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) not having support for his budget plans. Sánchez responded "The time when bishops interfered in politics ended when democracy began in this country", and he accused the clergy of not having the same position on occasions when right-wing parties were in the same predicament.[16]

Immigration

In January 2026, Argüello supported a PSOE-led amnesty of the country's estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants.[17]

Abortion and euthanasia

Argüello criticised a draft law in 2022 that would allow girls to have abortions without parental consent and disqualify medical staff who objected.[18] In November 2025, he called it a "tragedy" that there were 100,000 abortions in Spain each year and 73 million worldwide.[19]

Argüello opposed the euthanasia of paraplegic patient Noelia Castillo in March 2026, saying that doctors cannot carry out a death sentence.[20]

References

  1. 1.Bastante, Jesús (5 March 2024). "Confirmado el giro conservador de la Conferencia Episcopal, con Luis Argüello como presidente" [Conservative turn of the Episcopal Conference confirmed, with Luis Argüello as president]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  2. 2.Núñez, Julio (11 March 2024). "Luis Argüello, un antiguo antifranquista que niega la pederastia y los derechos LGTBI" [Luis Argüello, a former anti-Francoist who denies paedophilia and LGBTI rights]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  3. 3."El pasado político y una foto que persigue a Luis Argüello, el jefe de los obispos" [The political past and a photo that pursue Luis Argüello, the chief of the bishops]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  4. 4."Luis Argüello, nombrado obispo auxiliar de la diócesis de Valladolid" [Luis Argüello, named auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Valladolid]. Diario de Valladolid (in Spanish). 14 April 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  5. 5."Luis Argüello invita a los políticos a pedir "algo más que el voto" y les ofrece la "catolicidad del corazón"" [Luis Argüello invites politicians to ask for "something more than the vote" and offers them "Catholicism of the heart"]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Europa Press. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  6. 6."España: Francisco nombra nuevo arzobispo para Valladolid" [Spain: Francis names new archbishop of Valladolid] (in Spanish). Vatican News. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  7. 7."Argüello recibe el palio arzobispal de manos del Papa" [Argüello receives the archbishop's pallium from the hands of the pope]. El Día de Valladolid (in Spanish). 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  8. 8.Amo, Luis (30 July 2022). "Luis Argüello se convierte en nuevo arzobispo de Valladolid ante más de medio centenar de obispos" [Luis Argüello becomes new archbishop of Valladolid in front of more than fifty bishops]. El Norte de Castilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  9. 9.Riesco, Santiago (5 March 2024). "Luis Argüello, nuevo presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal Española hasta 2028" [Luis Argüello, new president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference until 2028] (in Spanish). RTVE. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  10. 10.Naishadham, Suman (31 March 2026). "Spain set to pay reparations to survivors of church abuse". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Associated Press. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  11. 11."El portavoz de los obispos cree que los sacerdotes deben ser "enteramente varones y, por tanto, heterosexuales"" [Bishops' spokesman believes that priests must be "completely male and, therefore, heterosexuals"] (in Spanish). RTVE. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  12. 12.Felipe, Santiago (20 October 2022). "Luis Argüello califica de "absurdo" la Ley Trans por su afán por "despatologizar"" [Luis Argüello calls the Ley Trans "absurd" for its eagerness to "depathologise"]. La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  13. 13.[13.2]Navarro-Pareja, José Ramón (22 January 2025). "Argüello, a la ministra Redondo: «En la Iglesia católica no hay discriminación en la comunión a las personas homosexuales»" [Argüello, to minister Redondo: "In the Catholic Church there is no discrimination regarding communion for homosexual people"]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  14. 14."Spanish public television mocks the Sacred Heart of Jesus on New Year's Eve". Our Sunday Visitor. 3 January 2025. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  15. 15."Argüello (CEE) invita a musulmanes en España a defender a los cristianos perseguidos tras apoyarlos por Jumilla" [Argüello (CEE) invites Muslims in Spain to defend persecuted Christians after supporting them in Jumilla] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 8 August 2025. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  16. 16.Shiner, Fionn (16 December 2025). "Spanish government clashes publicly with Church hierarchy". Crux. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  17. 17.Núñez, Julio (27 January 2026). "El líder de los obispos españoles, sobre la regularización extraordinaria de inmigrantes: "Se reconoce así su dignidad"" [Leader of Spanish bishops on extraordinary regularisation of immigrants: "This is how their dignity is recognised"]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  18. 18."Spain's bishops criticize bill to allow abortions without parental consent". Crux. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  19. 19."Argüello lamenta que se normalice la "tragedia" de que en España haya 100.000 abortos" [Argüello laments that the "tragedy" of 100,000 abortions in Spain has been normalised]. ABC (in Spanish). EFE. 18 November 2025. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  20. 20.Matarana, Jesús; Caraballo, Cristian (27 March 2026). "Spain's Catholic Church criticises Noelia Castillo's death by euthanasia, saying society failed". Euronews. Retrieved 29 March 2026.