Members of the Catholic Church in Catalonia condemned the widespread violence that took place during last Sunday’s disputed independence referendum in the region.
The Spanish Government declared the referendum illegal and used security forces to try to stop the vote from taking place.
Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, the capital of the region, called the violence on Sunday “deplorable” and added: “We have to find a peaceful and democratic way out of the situation we are living in.”
Archbishop Jaume Pujol of Tarragona, writing in Catalan, called for a “peaceful and democratic” solution to the conflict. However, the Bishop of Solsona, Xavier Novell, condemned the actions of the Spanish authorities, calling those who had used violence against the people “guerrillas”. Bishop Novell travelled 15 km to vote after the police closed the polling station that was closest to his residence.
The regional government said over 800 people were wounded on Sunday as they clashed with national security forces.
Catalan officials claimed that the preliminary results showed that 90 per cent of the 2.26 million who had voted favoured independence from Spain. The region has 5.3 million registered voters.
However, Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, said in a televised address after the polling stations closed that no referendum had taken place.
The Spanish ambassador to the Holy See met the Pope on Monday to present his credentials, but it is not known if they discussed the situation in Catalonia. The ambassador presented a protest to the Vatican last week after around 400 priests signed a letter in favour of Catalan independence.
Francis did not refer to the vote directly on a visit to Bologna, Italy, on the day of the referendum, but urged Europeans not to fear unity and to put nationalistic “self-interests” aside. In a speech to students, he recalled that the European Union was born out of the ashes of war to guarantee peace. He warned that conflicts and other interests were now threatening those founding ideals.
“Don’t be afraid of unity! May special interests and nationalism not render the courageous dreams of the founders of the European Union in vain,” Francis said.
Spain’s bishops in a statement before the referendum called on politicians, civil institutions and the people to avoid “irreversible decisions” of “grave consequence” that would “fracture families, society and the Church”.
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