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Church in the WorldParish priest elected mayorSpain Graham Keeley - 9 June 2007A parish priest has become the first Spanish cleric to be elected mayor, in local elections last weekend, writes Graham Keeley. Fr José Luis Torres, 37, won the seat of Competa in Andalucia, representing the conservative Popular Party (PP). He stood for election without the approval of the bishopric of Malaga, the office of which issued a statement saying that under canon law, clergy would be "suspended from performing priestly functions" if they held a public office with civic responsibilities. But the Cardinal of Seville, Carlos Amigo Vallejo, overruled the bishop, clarifying that a priest could take office and carry out his priestly duties when the community needed him to. The outgoing mayor, Leovigildo Lopez, who is to retire, backed the priest's campaign. Fr Torres will serve an eight-year term while continuing to care for a number of parishes in the region and teaching at an institute. Overall the PP won 35.6 per cent of the vote, overtaking the ruling Socialists, who garnered 34.9 per cent, in a contest seen as a test for next year's general elections. Some 20,000 people left the Catholic Church in Spain last year to join other faiths, a report claimed this week. According to a survey carried out by the Spanish daily El Pais, 12,000 joined Evangelical churches, 3,000 became Buddhists, 1,000 converted to Islam, 1,800 became Jehovah's Witnesses, 1,400 became Mormons and 800 joined other faiths. |
 In this week’s issueMaking markets moral Iron and velvet Love in a Catholic climate Someone to talk to A good Lent takes planning South American surprise Can the Church support abuse victims on its own terms? Elena Curti Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools? Christopher Lamb Goodwin the scapegoat Elena Curti The pain of being a coeliac Catholic Sr M, guest contributor The Church's moral obligation to victims of clerical sexual abuse Speeches from this week's conference in Rome This week in Rome bishops and religious superiors met at the first Vatican-backed symposium devoted to forging a global response to the crisis of clerical sexual abuse that has disgraced ... Archbishop voices 'shame and sorrow' after priest's abuse trial Longley to visit parishes 'damaged' by Walsh Today, Tuesday 7 February, Bede Walsh, who served as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, has been convicted by a jury, following a 10-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent ...
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