Reform of religious freedom law could be anti-Christian, Spanish bishop warns

[Holly3278]

Madrid, May 14, 2008 / 03:20 pm (CNA).- Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Tarazona (Spain) has written a pastoral letter in which he points out that the Spanish bishops agree on the need to update the country’s law on religious freedom, but they fear a reform would be an excuse to impose fanatical secularism that would expel all religion from the public square.

catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12642

Let us hope and pray that such a reform would not result in expelling religion from the public square.

 

[Dale_M]

Here is a little background information.

Spain’s governing Socialist Workers’ Party plans to change the country’s laws on religious freedom, to pursue a more secular approach, the ABC newspaper reports.

The Spanish government under Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has clashed frequently with the country’s Catholic bishops, on issues including abortion, same-sex marriage, and religious education. In February, after the bishops issued a statement on the responsibilities of Catholic voters in the country’s national elections, leaders of the Socialist Workers’ Party loudly protested that the bishops’ document was designed to harm their party’s electoral chances. The party’s president, José Blanco, threatened that the government might take retaliatory measures, eliminating “privileges” enjoyed by the Catholic Church, if it won re-election. The Zapatero government won a solid electoral victory in March.

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