The Archbishop of Tarragona scolds Vox: "A xenophobe cannot be a true Christian."

BarcelonaIn the face of Vox's attacks on the Muslim community, the bishops have taken a stand and have already warned those of Santiago Abascal (and, incidentally, also those in the PP) that attempting to prohibit the celebration of religious events violates the rights and freedoms recognized in the Constitution. The Spanish Episcopal Conference was clear in its position on the controversy in the Murcian town of Jumella, where the PP and Vox joined forces to veto the issue. that the Muslim community used a municipal sports facility to celebrate a holiday. This Tuesday, the Archbishop of Tarragona, Joan Planellas, also spoke clearly from Catalonia, defending the community's right to worship and reprimanding Vox for its anti-immigration rhetoric.

In statements to Catalunya Ràdio, the archbishop asserted that Vox's theses against immigrants are contrary to and incompatible with those of the Church. "A xenophobe cannot be a true Christian," he insisted. He also recommended that the Vox leader inquire into the Church's doctrine on the need to welcome and treat immigrants with dignity: "Let this gentleman review the Second Vatican Council," he emphasized. He stated that there are no fissures within the Church on this matter.

In the statement following the events in Jumella, the Spanish Episcopal Conference defended freedom of worship and stressed that limiting this right violates "the fundamental rights of any human being." "And it does not affect just one religious group, but all religious denominations and non-believers," they stated in the text, which also expresses support for the position defended by the Islamic Commission of Spain.

Abascal, against the bishops

This position infuriated Abascal. In response, the Vox leader suggested that the bishops were silent in the face of the Spanish government because of the "public revenue the Church receives" or even because of cases of pedophilia within the institution. However, the data shows that Vox is making inroads among Catholic voters, amid the rise of its anti-immigration rhetoric. According to the latest SigmaDos survey published by The WorldVox has gained 300,000 Catholic voters in two months, and 24.1% of practicing voters would choose the far-right Spanish party's ballot if elections were held now.

In response, Archbishop Planellas warned of the "trap" that Vox is holding back these voters. "How can a Catholic be xenophobic?" he insisted, emphasizing that "migration is a right," as is "not having to migrate by force." In this regard, he called for reflection on the "situations and causes" that force migrants to leave their homes. It is a discourse that Pope Francis once championed, and which Vox had already declared war on during the pontiff's lifetime (allying himself, for example, with the ultra-conservative cardinal, enemy of Francis, Robert Sarah).

A before and after

The clash between Vox and the bishops over the Jumella affair marked a turning point in the relationship between the two organizations. In fact, the president of the Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, had participated in events alongside the Vox leader and strained the bishops when he publicly spoke out in favor of calling early elections following the Cerdán case, supporting the views of the right and the far right. This did not please the Catalan bishops. who distanced themselves from that position.

In fact, the Archbishop of Tarragona explained this Tuesday that this whole episode "hurt" him and that he conveyed this to Argüello. "We must be very prudent and proceed with great caution; the president of the Conference is not acting in his own capacity, but on behalf of all the bishops," he emphasized. The ecclesiastic also took the opportunity to emphasize that Catalonia and the Catalans are "fruits of migration," in particular, of the movement of people that occurred in the 9th century in Old Catalonia, he emphasized.