The Spanish Episcopal Conference issued a statement on 7 January with the title “On the Nation and Nationalism” in which it voices its opposition to the so-called “Ibarretxe Plan”, which provides for greater autonomy for the Basque Country and its ultimate separation from Spain. The Plan leaves open the possibility for the Basque lehendakari (president) Juan José Ibarretxe to call a referendum to decide whether the Basque Country should become a free state associated with Spain. On 30 December the Basque Parliament gave its assent to the “Proposed Political Status of the Community of Euskadi” which proposes a process of far higher sovereignty for the Basque Country than exists today. The bishops recognize that this may become a separation, and therefore describe as “morally unacceptable” a plan that provides for the reform of the Basque status. The statement of the Spanish bishops points out that “nationalism must be aimed at the common good and must take account of the rights of others and of the values born from co-existence”. The letter says that nationalism is positive if it is not exclusive and salutary if it is not self-enclosed: “Love for one’s own nation or homeland, which needs to be cultivated, can be manifested as a nationalist political option”, the bishops recognize. The letter is not against nationalism, but against the secessionist plan. The bishop of San Sebastián, Juan María Uriarte, however, dissents from the bishops’ letter. In his view, “it is not binding for Basque Catholics because it is not a doctrinal document”. According to Uriarte “it is up to the experts in constitutional law, and not to the bishops, to delimit the juridical and political nature of the Ibarretxe Plan”. But his is the only discordant voice in the episcopate at the present time. The archbishop of Valencia, García Gasco, thinks, on the other hand, that no ear should be given to forms of nationalism that are inimical to the Spanish Constitution: “We cannot allow ourselves to be coerced by radical minorities that despise the spirit and letter of the Constitution nor by exclusive forms of nationalism”.
