After an appearance of ten minutes before the judge investigating the case, María Núñez Bolaños, the bishop told journalists that in 2009 he asked for the money because he was "aware of the job problem".
"I was given the grant and I thanked them for it," Ceballos explained, before underlining that the jobs he was defending with the request for aid are still extant.
Before the judge, the bishop stated that he requested the money from Antonio Fernández, at that time the Councillor for Employment, in a letter, according to the instructions of the office of the Archbishopric, which handled the approved funds.
Besides Ceballos, the judge has called three former political leaders to this phase of the ERE investigation: the former Councillor for Employment, Antonio Fernández; the former deputy Councillor Agustín Barberá; and the former Director General for Labour, Juan Márquez.