A document including the priesthood proposals was unveiled by the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) that groups Spain's leading bishops at a 600-strong gathering in Madrid.

The document was drawn up after consultations with more than 215,000 people, mostly lay people but also priests and bishops.

The CEE will debate the proposals on Saturday in Madrid. Among them will be suggestions put forward by the Archdiocese of Barcelona, led by Cardinal Juan José Omella. He is also the CEE's president, representing Spain's 70 archdioceses.

The recommendations will be presented to the Vatican in October next year at its General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The first synod was established by Pope Paul VI in 1965 for the Vatican to consult its bishops about issues concerning the Church.

The CEE document stresses "the need to discern in greater depth about the question of optional celibacy for priests and the ordination of married people; to a lesser extent, the issue of the ordination of women has also arisen," it said.

"There is a clear request that, as a Church, we hold dialogue about these issues... to be able to offer a more holistic approach to our society," it said.

It also emphasised the need to "rethink the role of women in the Church", to give them "greater leadership and responsibility", notably in places "where decisions are made".

There was also "a need for greater care" for those who have been divorced or remarried or have an alternative sexual orientation.

"We feel that, as a Church... we must welcome and accompany each person in their specific situation," it said.

The document was unveiled just months after politicians approved Spain's first official investigation into child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

The Church itself also took its first steps earlier this year towards addressing alleged abuse by clergy. It engaged lawyers to conduct a year-long investigation that will take cues from similar investigations in France and Germany.

Sources

South China Morning Post

The International News

The accusation has further damaged already strained Church-State relations.

"Too many times in our country, the Catholic Church has been complicit in covering up sexual violence. This must stop," said Ione Belarra, Spain's Minister of Social Rights.

She made the comment during an April 15 session of parliament. She was defending a new law extending the statute of limitations for sexual crimes against minors to the victim's 35th birthday.

Approval of the new legislation, known as the "Rhodes Law", has led to a showdown between Belarra and the bishops.

Catholic leaders wasted no time in condemning the minister's remarks.

The Episcopal Conference of Spain (CEE) issued a letter accusing the left-wing politician of "sullying the activity of the Church".

It said her comments before parliament were unacceptable and "do not correspond at all to reality".

"The work (of the Church) can not be tarnished by the actions of some of its unworthy members, nor by the assessments of politicians who, in the grip of a rancid anti-clericalism, use the Church for political confrontation in a strategy of rupture and confrontation," the CEE letter said.

Nonetheless, it said the bishops welcome the new law.

However, it cited recent figures from the ANAR Foundation (Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk), that indicate that only 0.2% of all cases of sexual abuse in Spain between 2008-2019 "occurred in the context of religious activities".

But the minister didn't leave it at that. Instead, Belarra turned up the heat.

"Unlike other European countries where independent investigations have been carried out, Spain has not yet investigated the problem of pederasty in the Church in depth," she said in a letter to Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, the CEE president.

Belarra's letter was published on April 19, the very day the episcopal conference began a weeklong plenary assembly.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the papal nuncio to Spain, took the occasion to respond to the government minister's accusations.

"No one can interpret a lack of transparency as a refusal to support what the pope says. No one can doubt the credibility of the Church in this matter," he said in his address for the assembly.

Since the Socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took power in June 2018, relations between the Church and Spain's civil authorities have experienced several upsets.

The formulation of new laws on euthanasia, private and public schools, and Church taxation have caused serious friction between the bishops and the Sanchez government.

But in recent months, it seemed that the two sides had struck a point of balance over the closure of places of worship during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit Spain hard.

That balance now appears to have been tipped.

Sources

La Croix International

Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, president of the Spanish bishops' conference, and Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo have agreed "to establish a broad working agenda" for a mixed commission.

The meeting is the first since Omella was elected conference president in March.

In a joint statement Omella and Calvo said the meeting was in line with "policies aimed at exercising the right to religious freedom," with both sides "willingly and freely addressed issues of mutual interest."

However, Alfa y Omega, Spain's Catholic weekly has reported that discord remained intense over government reforms, especially in education.

There are "no plans for compromise" over "fundamental rights," Alfa y Omega said.

The newspaper also reported that the bishops' education commission "stressed the need to protect and promote the right to education, as set out in our constitution.

"Spanish society is wondering how the eighth education law in 40 years is now close to being approved when there is no will to build consensus. The outlook is bleak."

The government also unveiled plans for law reform that would restrict parental rights and downgrade religion classes.

Other projected legislation includes permitting "a dignified death and euthanasia" at public expense, the "recovery of assets improperly registered to the church," and a guarantee of "state secularity and neutrality toward all religious denominations."

Another of Spain's bishops, Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, told those at Mass at Valencia cathedral on 21 June that the proposed education law would "impose models of knowledge and ethics". He urged legislators to reject it.

Source

• UCA News
• Image: UCA News