Witnesses to the "conversion therapies" Bishop Novell attended describe them as aggressive and vexatious
At the beginning of September a succulent news broke: the Bishop of Solsona Xavier Novell he was resigning from office because of his love for a writer of erotic and satanic novels. It was not the first departure of tone of the youngest prelate of Spain, but the most popular. The controversial and media Novell defended the wrong calls «conversion therapies»And had even attended some sessions. In 2017, he linked homosexuality with the absence of a father figure in families. A bead.
elDiario.es has had access to the testimonies of several victims of the «reversal therapies»Of sexuality, which ensure that Xavier Novell not only endorsed these practices, but also received «courses" for "normalize»His sexuality until he was reprimanded by the Vatican. Not only that: some witnesses implicate other bishops as promoters of associations such as «'Truth and freedom«, Whose work has been banned in Spain awarded by the Santa Thirst.
Need to reaffirm your heterosexuality
One of the victims of the association, maintains that «at the end of 2018, Novell started the itinerary on a personal level, finishing it at the beginning of 2020«. Some courses promoted by Truth and Freedom, which intended - and intends - «cure" the homosexuality. The prelate would have experienced «the healing path»And proclaimed his experience in different forums, showing the«need to reaffirm his heterosexualityd ».
«Novell was a great pillar in the group»Says the witness. So much so, points out another of those affected, that the Bishop of Solsona came to officiate the wedding of one of the members, who had «abandoned»His homosexuality. A ceremony that would have occurred without the knowledge of the couple's parents.
The therapies you participated in Novell they were "Aggressive, destructive, where you transform into a dependent being, where if they can't with you they take you to the psychiatrist. They destroy families, they make you say that you are gay to everyone and that you are going to be healed, when that is not true, it is a big lie. They apply desert punishments, leave you alone, mock, destroy in the group, they want to make you believe that your inner child is working«, Relates the witness.
Insults and harassment
The asociación It is not Therapy has compiled extensive information on these practices. Testimonies collected by the entity have provided details about the "itineraries" organized by ultra-conservative Catholic groups. In one of them, at least, the bishop emeritus of Solsona would have participated. Among the activities there are sessions, both individual and group, in which the participants are subjected to teasing, insults and humiliation, forcing them to explain details about their sexuality and, on occasions, demanding that they undress and hug each other to «overcome sexual desire«.
One of the highlights of these therapies was what was known as «wall«, In which the victims were placed in the middle of a circle, surrounded by other participants and the organizers of the courses, and had to listen to all kinds of insults and expletives from the rest of those present. The humiliation of the participants was considered necessary to generate doubts about their sexual identity. All very normal and very Catholic.
