Padre Apeles
Padre Apeles | |
|---|---|
| Born | José-Apeles Santolaria de Puey i Cruells 29 July 1966 |
| Education | Minor Seminary of Barcelona (Bachelor's, 1983) Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum (Ecclesiastical Studies) |
| Occupations | Priest Lawyer Television personality |
| Television | Moros y cristianos (1997–1999) Cita con Apeles (1997) Crónicas marcianas (1997–2005) |
| Website | http://www.apeles.info/ |
José-Apeles Santolaria de Puey i Cruells, better known as Padre Apeles ("Father Apelles", born 29 July 1966) is a Spanish Catholic priest, lawyer and television personality.
Biography
Apeles studied at a minor seminary in Barcelona and later took a course at the Balmes Institute. He later went to the Diocesean Seminary of Tortosa and later to Rome, where he was ordained in 1993. Apeles had appeared on radio programmes such as Niñolandia and Peques on Cadena COPE and RNE respectively.
Apeles came to fame on as a regular commentator on Telecinco in the late 1990s. He was well-known in particular on Moros y cristianos as a controversial guest, who always appeared wearing ecclesiastical vestments, and offering ironic and witty commentary to which the show's success was partially credited.[1] Apeles' media appearances raised the ire of the Spanish Episcopal Conference which confirmed that he "has never belonged to a Spanish diocese or to congregations based in Spain: [he is] exercising the priesthood outside of all jurisdiction."[2]
Nonetheless, his popularity gained him his own chat show on Telecinco, Cita con Apeles, and co-presented Telecupón with Carmen Sevilla. He followed Moros y cristianos' host Xavier Sardà to Crónicas marcianas in 1997. In the early 2010s, Apeles took a long break from television for mental health reasons and was hospitalised for a drug and alcohol overdose in 2012.[3] Apeles spoke openly about his mental health difficulties in a 2017 interview.[4]
Since the height of his fame at the turn of the millennium, Apeles has infrequently reappeared on television, such as on La isla de las tentaciones in 2020.[5] He is a voluntary reservist of the Spanish Army and now lives in Rome, studying and maintaining the history of the Catholic Church.[6] In 2025, he temporarily returned to the spotlight, being interviewed by media outlets on the outcome of the conclave that year.[7]
References
- ^ "La nueva vida del Padre Apeles: apartado de la televisión y en la ruina" [The new life of Father Apelles: cut off from TV and ruined]. 20minutos (in Spanish). 21 April 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "ABC SEVILLA (Sevilla) - 27/02/1997, p. 41 - ABC.es Hemeroteca". hemeroteca.abcdesevilla.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- ^ Gutiérrez Santos, Ana (6 November 2023). "¿Qué fue de el Padre Apeles, el cura más polémico de la televisión de los 90?". Lecturas (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- ^ "El Padre Apeles rompe su silencio en 'Sábado Deluxe': "La fama me destruyó"". Telecinco (in Spanish). 12 May 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- ^ Roldán, Alvaro (17 January 2020). "El Padre Apeles crea estupor en 'El debate de las tentaciones': "¿Qué hace ahí un cura?"". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- ^ Vivar, Andrea de (19 May 2022). "Reside en Roma y es capitán reservista del Ejército de Tierra: la vida actual del padre Apeles". Telecinco (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Pedroche, A. (25 April 2025). "El padre Apeles reaparece en el funeral del papa Franisco y elige a su favorito para la sucesión". Las Provincias (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2025.