Spain’s bishops say they will not take part in the national legislature-organised commission into clerical sexual abuse. They allege the commission won’t look into all sexual abuse of minors but only those committed by members of the Catholic Church. Of Spain’s 15,000 open cases, the vast majority were committed by people who are not part Read more
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is vowing to outlaw prostitution. Sanchez says the practice “enslaves” women. The unregulated prostitution industry was decriminalised in Spain in 1995. So long as paid sex services don’t take place in public places and the sex worker is offering their services of their own free will, no law is broken. Read more
It was hidden away for centuries in the archives of a seminary in Spain, a rare edition of a Shakespeare play experts believe may be the earliest copy of his work to reach the country. Published in 1634, “The Two Noble Kinsmen” is a tragicomedy about love, enmity and madness written by Shakespeare in collaboration Read more
Spain’s bishops have promised to seek agreement on some of the positions in the socialist-led government’s program for secular reforms. 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 Read more
Spanish church leaders have advised the government not to carry out plans to exhume General Francisco Franco’s remains, without obtaining agreement from interested parties. “We want a solution which helps build a peaceful country,” said Rodrigo Pinedo Texidor, archdiocesan communications director. Read more
Spanish Carmelite nuns have added their support to the Me Too movement. The international movement against sexual harassment and assault has spread rapidly since last October. It is used to show the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment. The Carmelite nuns published a post committing their support to Me Too last week. This followed Read more
The Basque separatist organisation, ETA, says it will lay down its arms next month. The announcement has Spanish church leaders giving thanks to God. ETA has apologised to its victims, saying it regrets the harm caused by its violent campaign for an independent homeland. “We thank God this terrible nightmare of blood and horror is Read more
Spain’s Catholic Church says a declaration of independence approved by Catalonia’s regional parliament last month is “serious and disturbing”. Cardinal Ricardo Blazquez Perez, who is the Spanish bishops conference president, says he supports re-establishing constitutional order. Bishops and priests should favour “peaceful coexistence” and “renounce concrete political actions that could diminish their mission which consists Read more
A bishop in Spain has apologised in public after a priest allowed a Hindu deity, Ganesh, to be paraded through his church by the local Hindu community. The priest has since offered his resignation as the Vicar General of the diocese, which was accepted. Read more
After recent terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Spain and Finland, Pope Francis is begging God “to free the world from this inhuman violence”. The world is carrying in its heart “the pain of these terrorist attacks,” Francis told the crowd in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, before leading them in prayer for the victims. Nineteen Read more