Secular State: an obsession ” “

Deep concern and protest: that’s what many Catholics feel in response to some of the measures recently taken by Spanish premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on such issues as the law on divorce, the equation of same-sex unions with marriage, including the possibility for the adoption of children, the manipulation of human embryos, and the shifting of religious education outside regular school hours. We discussed these decisions with the editorialist of the Catholic on-line paper Forum Libertas (www.forumlibertas.com), Ignasi Miranda. Was the clash between the Church and the Zapatero government foreseeable? “There were premonitory signs before the election of Rodríguez Zapatero and before he took any concrete measures. In just six months this government has clashed too often with the Catholic Church. On divorce, for example: In September, the Council of Ministers approved a reform of the law on divorce that has been in force in Spain since 1981. The objective is to favour the divorce of couples without them having to go through the obligatory period of separation beforehand. The bishops and many Christian and civic organization in defence of the family have denounced the fact that the government is facilitating the dissolution of marriages rather than announcing positive measures in favour of the family as an institution. To this we should also add the approval of a bill for the legalization of marriages between gays that would automatically imply their right to adopt children. The bill totally empties marriage of meaning by equating it with same-sex unions. The bishops have urged Catholics to protest, and the government, in reply, has reacted with harshness and belligerence against the Church. And then there is the government’s policy on education. The reforms recently presented contemplate a downgrading of religious education: previously considered on a par with an alternative of non-confessional religious culture, it now remains almost without any alternative, but worse than before”. Can the idea of transforming Spain into a purely secular State be curbed? “To convert Spain into a secular State would require the reform of the Constitution, that uses the word ‘non-confessional’ and makes explicit reference to Catholic religion as the country’s majority faith. Moreover, the Spanish Constitution establishes a positive view of religion. ‘Secular’ means, in effect, reductive or exclusive, because it implies the reduction of religion to the private sphere. But the Socialist politicians now in power use the definition ‘secular State’ in an almost obsessive way. Society is not secular, but pluralist, with Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Orthodox, atheists, laypeople and so on. Society consists of people, not of a superior authority that defines itself as secular”. How are Catholics reacting to the measures adopted? “They are reacting well, with a variety of initiatives, though these are lacking in unity. The involvement of laypeople in supporting the messages of denunciation by the bishops has improved greatly”. What is the main complaint made against the government? “Its narrow secularism, following the worst excesses of the French model. The bishops and many lay believers have said so. And with regard to the economic aspect, it seems that the present government likes helping other religions rather than Catholics”. Gipsies, prison inmates, nuns Gipsies, prison inmates and contemplative sisters: Msgr. Santiago García Aracil, the new archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, addressed these three categories of people in his first pastoral letters and outlined almost a spontaneous pastoral programme. In his first mass in the diocese the archbishop said: “I would like my work among you to be for everyone, without exception, a sign of patient dialogue and collaboration”. The archbishop addresses gipsies as “dearest brethren”, reminding them that “we are all children of the same Mother, Mary, whom you call with affection ‘la Majarí Cali'”. Equally direct is the beginning of his letter to prison inmates: “At times things go wrong – he writes -, but the help of God, personal convictions and joy can put them right”. “I cannot offer you the freedom to bring you outside the prison walls and solve the problems of your families”. But “by offering the light of Christ, I can help you to make a change of heart”. Of the contemplative sisters of the archdiocese the archbishops asks for prayers, and recalls that “the Church is going through difficult times in this old Europe of deep Christian roots”.