After 10 years of work, we opened the rectory of Pallerols, fully restored

After ten years of work, we have completely restored and inaugurated the Pallerols rectory. On the 3rd September, the prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Javier Echevarría, blessed the rectory in Pallerols de Rialb, rebuilt by the Rialb Foundation with the collaboration of the ‘Associació d’Amics del Camí de Pallerols de Rialb a Andorra.’ He have rebuilt it to look the way Saint Josemaría saw it in autumn of 1937. The prelate was accompanied by Msgr. Fernando Ocariz, auxiliary vicar of Opus Dei, Msgr. Ramón Herrando, vicar of Opus Dei in Spain, and Dr. Antoni Pujals, vicar of Opus Dei in Catalonia and Andorra. In representation of the Archbishop of Urgell, Fr. Josep Maria Mauri, the general vicar of the Archdiocese of Urgell, was present for the ceremony. Fr. Bonifaci Fortuny, the parish administrator for Pallerols, and Fr. Jaume Mayoral, rector of Ponts, as well as the Mayor of the Barony of Rialb, Antoni Reig, were present at the ceremony.

The ceremony begun in the church, where hymns dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary were sung, and finished in the rectory where the faithful followed to greet the prelate. People came for all over Catalonia and from places further away. Multiple families who were present were in some way or another involved with Saint Josemaría during the crossing in 1937. Among these was the Vilaró families, the Ampurdanés, Juncàs and the ‘Tonillo’ from Peramola. Industrial workers, from the surrounding villages, who had been involved in the reconstruction were also taking part in the celebrations. In the afternoon, Msgn. Echevarría had the opportunity to visit the ‘Cabaña de San Rafael’ where Saint Josemaría stayed for five days whilst waiting to start the arduous journey to Andorra. This hut is hidden within the forests of Pallerols, half an hour on foot, and has been reconstructed with the help of the local people following the drawings made in 1937.