Priests appearing on a Spanish podcast have caused a major controversy in Spain after a segment of the program in which they spoke went viral on social media pray that Pope Francis will “go to heaven as soon as possible.”

It was February 22 last year when, on the podcast “The Sacristy of the Vendée,” the priest Gabriel Calvo Sarrote He assured: “I pray a lot that Pope Francis can go to heaven as soon as possible.”

Laughing, American priest Charles Murr notes that he, too, joins in the prayers. He is followed by the priest Francisco J. Delgado, who leads the program and notes: “Well, let’s see if we pray harder.”

Everyone laughs. Calvo adds: “Many of us have that intention.”

The program includes Mexican priest Juan Razo which appears in the image against the background of an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

“Hello and hugs to everyone from Mexico. Also united in prayer for the Holy Father at this San Pedro chair festival,” he says.

The Mexican is on sabbatical after removed from the parish house of the seminary of the diocese of Saltillo, Coahuila, in July 2023. In August of the same year, Bishop Hilario Gonzalez confirmed to the newspaper Skirting that Razo’s plans were to focus on his TV channel YouTube.

The participation of priests in a Spanish podcast prompted statement of the Archdiocese of Toledofor some of its members belong to the archdiocese.

In its statement, the Archbishopric expressed its “deep rejection of any manifestation of dissatisfaction towards a person and to the service of the Holy Father” and did not rule out the application of corrective measures to the participants.

On February 28, the program “Sacristy of the Vendée” published a thread on the social network X (formerly Twitter) in which it stated: “We apologize for the unfortunate comment, said in a humorous tone about “praying for the Pope to go to heaven as soon as possible.” “This comment is in bad taste, and although it does not express a wish for the death of the Pope, as some media outlets have maliciously propagated, we understand that it can be understood as such.”

Last Thursday, February 29, they also criticized their podcast in front of the media, which supported the news. “We apologized. I don’t think it’s that important. “Those who self-righteously scandalize are not among the people of God,” said the program director.

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This isn’t the first time this podcast has sparked controversy. It was in its edition last Thursday, Priests paid tribute to the memory of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, “because he saved the Spanish Catholic Church from destruction.”

In another program they noted that the problem of pedophilia in the church “This is in no way celibacy, but homosexuality.” “We have to stop saying ‘homosexuality’, no, that’s the terminology – sodomites and effeminate,” said Calvo Zarrote, the protagonist of the current controversy.