When I explain that I am referring to a Catholic archbishop, you can be forgiven for thinking that this has something to do with choirboys, but it has not. No, this has to do with parishioners revolting against the decision of the controversial Archbishop of Granada to deprive them of their popular parish priest.

Father Enrique Martín, born in Dúrcal 47 years ago, has been in charge of the parishes of Pinos del Valle, Béznar and Restábal for seven years, as well as Talará, Chite and Mondújar these last twelve months. In this time he has earned the respect of his parishioners. Then came the command from Granada for him to pack up and transfer to Alhama de Granada.

Whilst the priest has accepted the order – he has no real alternative – the churchgoers are incensed and have been collecting signatures for a petition. Several people have personally spoken with the Archbishop, but to no avail.
Now, just to add a little spice to the plot, several ladies from the area claim that behind this ‘sudden transfer’ are a group of very conservative nuns who are certainly out of step with these times in which we live.

So, add ‘Taliban-type nuns’ to ‘controversial archbishop,’ stir gently and leave to brew and hey presto, you get ‘Disenchanted Villagers Mark II in Technicolor and 3D discontent.’

But perhaps you don’t remember what the Archbishop has done to earn the epithet, ‘controversial?’ Let me refresh your brain pan… During a Mass sermon he considered that any women that underwent an abortion literally gave any man the ‘absolute right ‘to do what he liked with her body, bless him. He later claimed that he had been misinterpreted… He also claimed in the same sermon that the new law on abortion put hospital staff on a similar footing as Nazi concentration-camp guards.

What else – if that were not enough? He claimed at the already controversial ‘Taking of Granada’ ceremony, held yearly on the 5th of January, that the conquest of Granada put an end to eight centuries of devastation. The following centuries of religious persecution again Jews and Muslims at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition must have slipped his mind, as did the peace and prosperity under the Caliphate of Córdoba.

Well, won’t be long before he orders us all to grow beards whilst our wives make suicide-bomb vests on their Singer sewing machines, perhaps, whilst the before-mentioned nuns raid ploughed fields for suitably sharp stones…