The Catalan bishops have come forward and distanced themselves from the words of rejection by the secretary general and spokesperson of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) regarding the possibility that the investiture agreement of Pedro Sánchez includes the approval of an amnesty law for the process "We have to maintain an edifying and respectful neutrality, a neutrality that we can only break when the right to dignity of the human being is violated," is stated in a statement from the Tarragona Episcopal Conference, which brings together the ten Catalan dioceses, issued this Friday. .
The words spoken yesterday Thursday by the auxiliary bishop of Toledo, Francisco César García Magán, which according to the EEC were "his response to journalists" and not a position of the permanent commission, did not sit well with some sectors of the Church. Catalan people who consider that the bishops should not interfere in this matter, and that they should not have expressed themselves against the amnesty. In García Magán's opinion, the current context "is not an exceptional situation" that justifies the approval of this measure.
The position expressed by the Secretary General of the EEC fell like a bucket of cold water and was received with "surprise" in Catalonia, depending on which sectors of the Church. Sources consulted point out – in a personal capacity – that García Magán's message is not in line with Pope Francis and what he expressed at the World Youth Day in Lisbon last summer, when he stressed that "in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone , all". These sources understand that there are people who may feel upset by the political line expressed by the prelate.
"The best thing was not to answer the question," say the sources consulted, who believe that the spokesperson went too far since there was no position approved by the permanent commission of the EEC. In the Tarraconense statement published this afternoon urgently, since it was not planned, it is emphasized that they were statements "in a personal capacity" by the spokesperson for the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
"The general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, in his statements, focused above all on a personal legal assessment of the issue which – according to him – did not imply either denying or supporting the amnesty," the statement from the Catalan bishops states. "In addition, he explicitly said that the acting president, Pedro Sánchez, had not yet put the issue on the table, which now really corresponds to reality," continues the first point of the text.
"The Church is always guided by favoring equality, cordiality, dialogue and work to create a new and good society. Stirring partisanship or praising a certain position is neither good nor, unfortunately, new. That is why bishops, pastors of a Church that is fortunately plural, we have to maintain an edifying and respectful neutrality, a neutrality that we can only break when the right to the dignity of the human being, the center of all the Social Doctrine of the Church, is violated," it is noted in the second point of the Tarraconense statement.
It so happens that the president of the EEC, the archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, is in Rome these days for the appointment of the new cardinals, which will take place tomorrow in the Vatican.
The body that brings together the Catalan bishops met last week and did not plan to do so again until the beginning of next year, so no statement was expected from the Catalan Church on this matter, but there has been some discomfort in part The clergy and bishops have wanted to distance themselves from García Magán's line.
Without going any further, the association of progressive priests of the diocese of Girona grouped under the umbrella of the Joan Alsina Forum have valued the words of the secretary general and spokesperson of the EEC. One of its members, Fèlix Mussoll, from the Sant Cugat de Salt parish, has disagreed with its content and form. “It is ethically reprehensible to attribute a personal opinion to the EEC,” he points out.
“It is one thing to be a spokesperson for the EEC and speak on behalf of the bishops and another is to give a personal opinion that may be very different from the opinion of others,” added Mussoll before the Catalan bishops made public the statement in which they They separated from García Magán.
Unlike the prelate, the Joan Alsina forum, created in 1999 in memory of the Empordà priest murdered in Chile in 1973 after Augusto Pinochet's coup d'état, is “in favor of amnesty” and also of the independence of Catalonia.
In the political sphere there have also been complaints about the words of the auxiliary bishop of Toledo. "There are thousands of Catalan Catholics who feel expelled from the Catalan Church (because, unfortunately, it is absolutely subsidiary and gregarious to the Spanish one, presided over by the archbishop of Barcelona)," said the president of the national council of Junts per Catalunya and former Government Minister Josep Rull, who was imprisoned from March 2018 to June 2021 for 1-O and the process. "In any case, there are still rectors and other priests in Catalonia who, outside the hierarchy, are and will always be. Committed to this people," he added.
For his part, the director of Religious Afers in the Generalitat, Carles Armengol, recalled the words of the Catalan bishops in June 2021, which were later supported by the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
"We are convinced of the strength of dialogue and grace measures in all conflict situations. We believe that the achievement of a right social order that allows the harmonious development of the entire society requires something more than the application of law," the Catalan bishops said on June 17, 2021, in a statement from the Tarraconense.
