SAINT THOMAS DE VILLANUEVA, AN EVANGELICAL BISHOP TO RENEW AND REBUILD THE DIOCESE OF VALENCIA IN THE 16TH CENTURY

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to help place and frame, as a whole, the figure of the Archbishop of Valencia, Santo Tomás de Villanueva, whom we have studied at length. A native of La Mancha, he carried out the great renovation work that the Diocese of Valencia needed in the 16th century, an exciting century of reforms and renewal, both in the Church and throughout the world. Thus, too, it was the century of the great Spanish reformers who have brought so much truth and glory to the Church and to the greatness of Spain. The center of this contribution is the discovery of an episcopal theology in Santo Tomás de Villanueva. In it, some keys of interest are discovered for the interpretation of the figure and the work of the Evangelical Bishop, an ideal that he himself lucidly designed in his doctrine and that he truly embodied in his life. His figure and his doctrine continue to constitute a reference that illuminates us in the present time by the authenticity of his message. Saint Thomas demanded in his time, as Pope Francis asks us now, a Church of the poor and for the poor.