Church colleagues told Spanish media they believed Novell had been possessed by demons, with one saying this was "not a problem of celibacy but rather of infestation".
The same sources claimed that Pope Francis had urged Novell to undergo an exorcism to free his troubled spirit, but the then-bishop had refused to do so.
Novell had himself practised exorcisms for several years. His desire to study demonology apparently led him to meet and become close to Caballol, an expert in Satanism.
Now no longer a man of the cloth, Novell has instead embarked along a very different career path.
Spanish newspaper ABC reported that Novell, who is a trained agronomist, has found work with Semen Cardona, a firm that specialises in the artificial insemination of pigs in Spain and overseas.
ABC reported that Novell's role will involve him obtaining the valuable product directly.
"Bishop Novell will work masturbating the pigs," they reported.
Spanish religious news website Religion Digital, which first broke the news of Novell's love affair, said it had confirmed ABC's reporting and described the job as a "total life change".
God works in mysterious ways.
- Additional reporting, Daily Telegraph
