Spanish Bishops

Ig Tao Bauer

Camera and editing: Pedro Barrera

Commentary, OTs Martin and Angelika

Bishops in Spain have been involved in the election campaign for weeks already. At the end of last year they gathered believers from all over the country to their cause, although campaigning had not yet officially started. More than one hundred thousand individuals rallied to their call in defence of the family unit. The message was clear – they were taking a stance of direct opposition to the Socialist government’s policies.

Spanish dignitaries put all their energy into taking up Pope Benedict’s live appeal from Rome to defend marriage and family life. The harsh dispute brought back uncomfortable memories of the ideological conflict that gave rise to the Civil War in Spain seventy years ago.

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Enrique Gil Calvo, Sociologist (Martin)

“The question is: either Catholicism or laicity. History is clear on this point. The ideological justification of Right was always the defence of Catholicism. During anti-clerical propaganda they could mobilise their followers to their support. This led to the assassination and murder of priests and nuns during the Civil War, and to the burning of monasteries.”

Full of republican zeal, the socialist Premier pressed ahead with a series of reforms that directly hit the Catholic Church such as the legalisation of civil partnerships among homosexual couples as well as the law on child adoption.

In his latest book, the sociologist Gil Calvo explains why even today the ideological conflict between the two political camps still dominates the public scene.

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Enrique Gil Calvo (CUT! SHORTEN!) (Martin)

“Spain has now become a country of evangelisation. The reconquest of the public arena by the Vatican is beginning in Spain because here it is here that the possibility of reconfirming ideological roots lies. It is a kind of crusade, a struggle against the

laicism of Prime Minister Zapatero who is regarded by the Pope as a force of evil, working towards the breakdown of democracy.”

At meetings directly before the elections, the bishops produced a document which contained a strong political statement as well as general moral considerations. Basically every contact with terrorists was rejected on principle. For many this was no more than a clear condemnation of the abortive peace negotiations between Zapatero’s government and the Basque terrorist group ETA.

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Jose Blanco, General Secretary of the Socialist Party (Alex)

“When it was the conservative Prime Minister Aznar who headed proceedings with ETA, and a Bishop who established contact with the group, that was no sin. But when it was Zapatero who sought to bring about peace through dialogue and discussion, then that is a sin. That’s what I call hypocrisy.”

For Socialists, the influence of the Church is too strong and has gone on for too long. In election meetings the bishops were sharply criticised.  Prime Minister Zapatero spoke of the Church’s inadmissible interference in cash transactions of politicians and now threatens the bishops with a review of national church financing.

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Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister (Martin)

We have had enough of these rights, ever more radical, ever more extreme. One must raise one’s voice, mobilize and on 9 March, return a sufficient majority in the ballot boxes.”

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Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, Speaker, Bishops’ Synod (Alex)

“Bishops do not dictate how Catholics should control their behaviour. We have summarised the principles of Christian anthropology and Catholic social ethics. Then it’s up to individuals to form their own free judgement on politics. Bishops will not let themselves be daunted either by threats or external pressure, or even political strategic considerations.”

Radio Cope is a successful media group owned by the Catholic Church.  Journalists have taken on several lawsuits with their aggressive criticism of the government. The station campaigns against Zapatero round the clock, sometimes even hitting below the belt. Nevertheless the channel remains one of the most popular stations in Spain.

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Cesar Vidal, anchorman (Martin)

“The bishops’ message was also taken up by other communities. I myself am not Catholic but Protestant and I find that I morally agree with their argument. The last few days I have been discussing it with Jews. They too are very concerned at the prospect of the legalisation of euthanasia in the next period of socialist administration.”

There was a meeting between the head of the Catholic Church and the leader of the Socialist government. It was tensely anticipated. The Holy Father criticised the government’s reforms several times and called Zapetero’s attitude anti-clerical. The differences between the two sides were such that they could hardly be disguised by diplomatic small talk.

The so-called “Red Church” is in Madrid’s working class neighbourhood, Entrevias. Over the last 28 years it has been caring for “outsiders” – immigrants, unemployed people, drug addicts. The parish priest, de Castro, celebrates mass for the faithful here. He has often got into trouble over his unorthodox views. He does not think that the Church should interfere in politics.

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Enrique de Castro, parish priest (Martin)

“The bishops’ document contains no direct quotation from the gospels. It only raises certain points that concern them. It excludes dialogue with the enemy, with ETA and terrorists. In the gospel Christ expressed a universal readiness for discussion at the common table where there is a place for everyone.”      

So Spain finds itself now on the verge of a crucial decision – not least over the question of how far the Catholic Church can go to defend its principles in a Catholic country, in Europe, without blurring the border between religion and party politics.