Church steps into political fray in Spain
Bishops remind Catholic voters of their duty to defend traditional values in Sunday's elections. Socialist Party officials are furious.
MADRID — Spain's most prominent Roman Catholic priests have stepped into the center of a bare-knuckle election campaign here, igniting a firestorm by seeming to tell voters how to cast their ballots.
The powerful Spanish Bishops Conference, in a recent widely disseminated "message to the public," reminded Catholic voters of their duty to defend traditional values and to elect leaders "responsibly" when they go to the polls Sunday. Catholics make up the vast majority in this country.
Without naming a political party, the bishops condemned many of the policies that have been hallmarks of the ruling Socialist Workers Party, such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage. The policies are opposed by the conservative Popular Party.
"Not all [party] programs are equally compatible with the faith and the demands of Christian life," the bishops admonished.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and other senior officials of the Socialist Workers Party quickly expressed outrage at what they saw as church interference. Next thing you know, complained party Secretary Jose Blanco, priests will be running for office -- and on the Popular Party ticket. Respect the separation of church and state, warned Vice Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega.
The government formally protested to the Vatican, expressing "surprise" and "perplexity" over the statement, which was released several weeks ago as the political season geared up.
The conservative hierarchy of the church has been at odds with the government since the Zapatero administration came to power in elections four years ago and embarked on a broad, aggressive agenda of liberal social reform.
On Tuesday, the bishops conference reaffirmed its firm stance by choosing as its new president one of its more hard-line members, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, 71, to replace the more moderate Bishop Ricardo Blazquez, 65.
Spain's political right wing, historically aligned with the church and in power for a decade leading up to 2004, considered itself unjustly displaced in that year's elections, which followed a devastating terrorist attack. It has fought the Socialist government on nearly every issue.
In addition to recognizing gay marriage and making divorce easier, the government has sought to reduce the influence of the church in public education. This too was condemned by the bishops.
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