Spain Catholic Church Elects New Head
The Catholic Church in Spain elected a new head yesterday, Bishop of Bilbao Ricardo Blazquez. First on his agenda is to start a dialogue with the existing government which has recently passed social reforms contrary to Church doctrine.
The Catholic Church in Spain elected the Bishop of Bilbao Ricardo Blazquez as its new head, Tuesday. First on his agenda is to start a dialogue with the existing government, which recently passed social reform legislation that is contrary to the Church's teachings on issues such as homosexual marriages.
There has been a tense relationship between the Church and the Socialist government ever since Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was elected last year. Under Zapatero, gay marriages were legalized, divorces and abortions were made more accessible, and religious teachings were separated from compulsory teaching in schools, according to the EFE Spanish news agency.
Reactions to the Bishop's appointment have been mixed.
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Prime Minister Zapatero welcomed the the new Bishop during an afternoon phone call yesterday, according to Colpisa news.
"I am a person very much in favor of change, for obvious reasons," said Zapatero.
The previous president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) was conservative Archbishop of Madrid Rouco varela.
Gay marriage activist Miguel Angel Sanchez of the Triangle Foundation said the "defeat" of the outgoing bishop was "good news," and had already requested an interview with Bishop Blazquez to ask that "the campaign of insults and attacks by the Church against gays and lesbians cease," according to Copilsa news.
However, Bishop Blazquez made clear his stance on the controversial issue:
"If everything is family, nothing is family. For me, the family has its base in marriage as a union life and love between a stable man and a woman for the transmission of life," said Blazquez. "I ask that we all be zealous presiders, caretakers of our families: it's an enormous treasure."
