The Spanish Bishops’ Conference appears to be split over a draft amnesty law to pardon Catalan separatists.
The bill seeks to “cancel penal, administrative and financial” penalties imposed on more than 300 people linked to the Catalan independence movement since 2012.
On Sunday, thousands of Spaniards joined rallies against the bill, chanting “Spain is not for sale!” and “Sánchez, Traitor!”
Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist leader, is the architect of the amnesty, a concept he has previously described as “unconstitutional”.
Recently, he deemed the measure necessary to break the political deadlock which has left Spain with a hung parliament since July.
Sánchez offered the amnesty to the Junts separatist party of Catalonia in return for votes which paved the way for his expected investiture this week for a second term as president.
The Bishop of Alicante José Ignacio Munilla said it was “profoundly immoral” for “some politicians, in order to continue governing, to grant an amnesty to other politicians in exchange for receiving their votes.” He added: “Power can turn into a God. It’s addictive.”
The bishops in Catalonia had earlier called for an “edifying neutrality” regarding the amnesty to ensure “equality, cordiality and dialogue”.
They received the backing of Cardinal Juan José Omella, the bishops’ conference president and Archbishop of Barcelona.
However, Bishop César García Magán, the secretary general of the conference, said he did not see the need for an amnesty, as Spain was not living through an exceptional period in its history.
In July, Sánchez lost the general election – whose date he had set on a public holiday. Alberto Feijóo of the right-wing Partido Pouplar won the most parliamentary seats but failed to secure a majority to govern, despite an alliance with the ultra-right wing party Vox.
Feijóo encouraged last Sunday’s demonstrations, where protesters waved papier-mâché figures of the Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and chanted “Prison for Puigdemont”.
In 2017, Puigdemont, leader of the Junts party, fled to exile in Brussels after leading an independence referendum in Catalonia. This was subsequently declared illegal by the Spanish courts. According to the 1978 constitution, the unity of Spain is “indissoluble”. Many fear the amnesty law could lead to Catalonia seceding from Spain.
The Bishop of Huelva Santiago Gómez Sierra said: “The social teaching of the Church recognises the real and primary right to political self-determination in the case of colonisation or unjust invasion but not in the case of secession.”
Loading ...
