The bishopric of Almería urgently needs 8 million euros to settle debts with banks

From February of this year until a few hours ago. That is the period of time that the prestigious Deloitte has needed to break down the economic ups and downs of the Diocese of Almería between January 2010 and December 2021.

Those twelve years of accounts have been summed up in a report of more than 130 pages which has been presented today in Almería. On the one hand, in a meeting with the clergy that took place this morning at the House of Spirituality in Aguadulce and which was attended by more than 70 priests of the entire province and, on the other hand, in an evening meeting with the economic council of the Diocese of Almería.

In both meetings, together with the team of Deloittewere the former Catalan politician Xavier Pomes (collaborator with the Episcopal Conference) and the Bishop of Bilbao, Joseba Seguraas a member of the Economic Council of the Episcopal Conference.

After those two meetings, although the content of the Deloitte report has not been officially disclosed (which will be available tomorrow afternoon, according to those responsible for the Diocese), the Bishop of Almería, Antonio Gómez Cantero, has published a letter in which the only official information for the moment is slipped: “Our debt, only with financial institutions, is 23.918 million euros“, emphasizing that this is only the debt with the banks, the total amount being even greater.

“Although it is considerable, we will design a serious approach to be able to assume it,” the prelate states in his letter. “Together we must take the necessary steps to move forward. To do this, I will seek the help of a team of trained people, which I will appoint later“, announces Gómez Cantero.

Urgent 8 million euros

Although no more official data has been given from the Diocese, LA VOZ has had access to some of the figures that have been shared today by the Deloitte audit team. The most striking of all is that of the most pressing debt: the Diocese of Almería must obtain 8 million euros in the short term, since it is the figure that has to be settled with banking entities within a period of 5 years.

To settle this debt, Deloitte makes a series of recommendations, indicating possible paths to follow. In this way, from the consultant it is indicated that the Diocese of Almería has “many more employees than are needed”point diocesan sources.

In addition to this, a valuation has been made of the properties whose direct owner is the Diocese of Almería, assessing what its value could be both for sale and for leasebeing the most valuable the seminary, the house of spirituality of Aguadulce and the priestly house of San Juan de Ávila.

The management of Adolfo González Montes

At the morning meeting with the clergy, Monsignor Joseba Segura defended the episcopal work of Adolfo González Montes beyond the economicremembering that in 20 years of pastoral journey, 50 priests were ordained.

For his part, González Montes, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Almería, has not been present at either of the two meetingsbut he was aware of the result of the audit, for which he has fully collaborated for months, as indicated by sources close to the investigation.

In fact, the bishop emeritus was far from Almería today: before the recent operation of the archbishop of Granada, González Montes has been in charge of presiding over the celebration of Corpus Christi in Granada, both in the mass celebrated in the Granada cathedral and the subsequent procession. In addition, tomorrow he will be present at the beatification of 27 Dominicans (among which there are Almerian) in the cathedral of Seville.