President of the Balearic Islands Meets with Pope Francis, Discusses Canonization of Blessed Raymond Lull

Marga Prohens, the President of the Balearic Islands, met with Pope Francis yesterday at the Vatican and asked him to visit the island of Mallorca to venerate the Jesuit lay brother to whom he is devoted, Saint Alonso (or Alphonsus) Rodríguez.

In addition, she spoke to him about the cause for canonization of Blessed Raymond Lull, a native of Mallorca. This fascinating Franciscan tertiary, whose conversion from a life of sin to one of deep Christian fervor was inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, is too little known. His name is given in various forms: Raimundo Lulio, Ramon Lull, Llull, or Raymond Lully, as the old Catholic Encyclopedia calls him. This is no doubt owning to his being not Spanish, but Mallorcan (i.e., an inhabitant of the largest of the Balearic Islands), and therefore a man of Catalan language and culture, so his name shows up in its Catalan, Spanish, Latin, and Anglicized forms.

You can read a brief and well done write-up of him here, but do be aware that where the Franciscan author calls him “a fitting patron for all those involved in dialogue today between the three great Abrahamic faith traditions,” those words, which have a basis in reality, cannot be read to mean that Llul was into ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. The blessed was an accomplished intellectual, a philosopher and theologian who knew Arabic and Hebrew; and, according to his abilities, he wanted to evangelize intelligently by engaging with learned people among the Muslims and Jews — and, in the Platonic and Augustinian sense, this can indeed be called “dialogue” — but his objective was very clear: conversion. As an old edition of Franciscan Studies I have stated it: “For, as Raymond Lull put it, the whole universe was created in order to be Christian, and for no other purpose.”

Here is an AI-produced translation of an article in the Catalan language on the website of the Government of the Balearic Islands: ¹

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Prohens conveys to His Holiness Pope Francis the affection and challenges of the Balearic Islands

Prohens has invited the Pope to visit the Balearic Islands to see the relics of Saint Alonso Rodríguez — to whom he is very devoted — as he did in 1983, long before being elected Pope.

The President of the Government, Margalida Prohens, held an audience with Pope Francis at the Holy See. Prohens conveyed to him the affection and challenges of the Balearic Islands and also discussed topics such as the importance of family, the protection of birth rates, and the need to strengthen the values of Christian humanism and Catholicism in society.

They also spoke about the canonization process of Blessed Ramon Llull, “a figure of great historical significance in the Mediterranean and, as a philosopher, a key author in Christian thought and faith,” stated the President.

In 1995, the Diocese of Mallorca, led by Monsignor Teodor Úbeda, promoted the canonization of Ramon Llull, and in 1999, the case was submitted to the Holy See. Now, 25 years later, the process is still incomplete, although the Diocese of Mallorca has continued working on it.

“Of course, the Pope is well aware of the figure of Ramon Llull and agrees that the Blessed meets the conditions to be canonized by the Holy See,” Prohens said.

Additionally, the President had the opportunity to speak with the Pope about other saints from the Balearic Islands, such as Saint Catalina Tomàs, Saint Junípero Serra, and Saint Alonso Rodríguez, with whom Pope Francis has a special connection due to his Jesuit background. “For this reason, I invited him to visit the Balearic Islands to see the saint’s relics. In fact, he already visited them in 1983, long before becoming Pope,” she added.

During the meeting, the President presented Pope Francis with a copy of the Book of Wonders by Ramon Llull and a copy of the Biblia Natalis, reissued by the Serra Group.

The President of the Government expressed her gratitude for the meeting with the Pope, which she described as enriching, relaxed, and warm. She also thanked Spain’s ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá, who accompanied her during the visit.

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