In the end, tonight, Donald Trump has not ended with “an entire civilization”, because Iran and the United States have given themselves another fifteen days. Trump has found a temporary way out of this war without a clear objective and Iran has resisted and put its conditions on the table. Everyone has lost, in fact, we have all lost, but Trump and the ayatollahs will say they have won. The one who continues to go their own way is Israel, which has already said it does not feel concerned by this two-week ceasefire and will continue to attack southern Lebanon. In any case, this morning we have reasons to breathe a little relieved. And if you want to add a point of reflection, do not miss this article by philosophy professor Ferran Sáez Mateu, titled “Trump: how did we get here?”, in which he explains why people vote for him. “Many voters make a decision based on who they believe they are or what subjective threats they perceive”. Closer, three interesting posts, today. The first: the Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has not dared to temporarily move Picasso's Guernica to the Basque Country, as the government of Vitoria had requested.Urtasun clings to the technicians' report which says that with the transfer, the painting could be damaged. The most progressive government in history will not take the symbolic step of exhibiting Guernica in the Basque Country. The reason interests us quite a bit: the work could be damaged. Like the frescoes of Sixena, right?Two: the Spanish government wants to change the Constitution to protect the right to abortion. They did it in France, because the extreme right, when it governs, rolls it back, and because in Spain, most abortions are not performed in public healthcare (in Catalonia, yes), but in private ones. The Spanish government will not achieve it, because to change the Constitution, a majority of ⅗ parts is needed, meaning the PP's votes are required, and the PP will not give them the votes. Why is the PSOE doing it? With the real argument of protecting rights, it forces the PP to say no and alienate itself from the female vote and align itself with VOX, with whom, moreover, they are agreeing on regional governments in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León. And the elections in Andalusia are coming.And the third, and very symbolic: yesterday, the Spanish Episcopal Conference presented some details of the visit of Pope Leo XIV, in just two months. The theme of the trip will be “Lift your eyes”, which is exactly what Leo XIV himself will do in Barcelona when he goes out onto Sardenya street to bless from below the cross that has recently culminated the Sagrada Familia.Without the Sagrada Família, the Pope would not have moved from Rome, but if he came, he had to pass through Madrid (no need to explain why) and take the opportunity to make a trip that his predecessor Pope Francis would have liked to make, which is to go to the Canary Islands, a point of arrival for which thousands of Africans risk their lives trying to enter the European Union. No sooner said than done, here is the logo, of a kitsch and outdated design as has not been seen for a long time, in which the Sagrada Família appears in the middle, the Puerta de Alcalá on the left and the sea (which represents the Canary Islands, which surrounds it). And now for the best part. When presenting the trip, the Episcopal Conference says that, in this act of looking up, one finds “the recognition of God as a source of unity (Madrid), beauty (Barcelona), and charity (the Canary Islands)”.Given that you are chosen for some concept, it is fine that Barcelona is associated with beauty, but don't tell me it's not sensational that the recognition of God as a source of unity is Madrid. Madrid, destination unit in the spiritual, too. It is clear that this trip will not escape the same national tension that was already experienced in 1982 with the visit of John Paul II and in 2010 with that of Benedict XVI.Good morning.

The Spanish government, the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), and the Spanish Conference of Religious have signed this Monday, at the Ombudsman's office, the protocol to compensate victims of sexual abuse and pedophilia. It is the system to recognize and repair individuals for whom the judicial route is no longer possible and which had been pending detailing since early January, when a more generic pact was reached to implement it. Finally, no indicative compensation figure has been included in the text.

We started the week before Christmas stuck in Groundhog Day: Sanchez on the ropesThe PP against its impotence and Catalan politics subordinated to what happens in Madrid, with Isla, as if he were a smaller piece in a set of Russian dolls, presiding over the Generalitat with the distant support of Esquerra i Comuns, and with Junts living in its own impotence.

As has become customary in recent times, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, has once again launched an attack against the Spanish government. Aligning himself with the right wing, the head of the Spanish bishops has called for a "vote of confidence, a motion of no confidence, or elections" given the lack of support for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. "The situation is even more deadlocked than in July, with a legislature without a budget," he said in an interview. The Vanguard"So I reiterate what I said in July: a vote of confidence, a motion of no confidence, or giving the people a voice. In other words, what the Constitution provides for," insists the president of the Episcopal Conference.

True to its long-standing ability to seize every opportunity to be out of step, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has found that the historical memory laws They do not delve deeper into reconciliationWhen you've had 50 years to apologize for being the spiritual arm of the Franco dictatorship and you haven't gone beyond a single apology for "specific actions" in 2007, you're not in a very good position to talk about reconciliation. The coins we carried in our pockets in 1975 made it perfectly clear:"Leader of Spain by the grace of God."Or do today's bishops still operate under the logic that the numerous murders of religious figures in the Republican zone during the Civil War justified the blessing of the winning side with the title of CrusadeBecause, moreover, Franco, who in his political testament declared himself "a faithful son of the Church, in whose bosom I will die," ended his days snubbing Pope Paul VI, refusing to answer the phone when he called to ask him not to carry out the last rites. In fact, certain figures within the Catholic Church represented a headache for the regime, such as the abbots of Montserrat, Escarré and Just. The 113 members of the Assemblea de Catalunya were arrested in a parish, and in diocesan scout groups, Catalan nationalism was so pervasive that it could make one forget for a moment that we were living under a dictatorship. The attempt to expel the Bishop of Bilbao, Antonio Añoveros, for speaking about Basque identity almost resulted in the excommunication of members of Franco's government. Isn't the Church today proud of that legacy?

These times do not allow us to underestimate the fact that two actors in public life defend dialogue and criticize polarization, which is what the president of the Spanish bishops, Luis Argüello, and President Salvador Illa concluded yesterday at an event in Madrid. But Argüello excelled: "I'm taking a photo with Isla where a few months ago I took one with [Santiago] Abascal and I'm not ashamed of either of them." Man, that's very kind.

During his visit to Madrid last year to celebrate the Diada, Salvador Illa sent a clear message. With him as president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Catalonia will not renounce occupying any space or establishing any relationship with state institutions, as the independence movement had done. He demonstrated this then with a meeting with King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace, after nine years of government snubs, and he did so again this year by approaching the Spanish Episcopal Conference, chaired by the conservative Luis Argüello, known for his strong criticism of Pedro Sánchez. The Catalan socialist leader spoke for an hour with Argüello at the invitation of the Pablo VI Foundation and the Comillas Pontifical University, in a public event that its organizers have hailed as "a gateway to hope that we can move forward in harmony, civic responsibility, and faith in a context of political polarization."

The pressure on Sánchez to end his term continues. The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, has joined the right and has been calling for early elections for days so that they can "speak to the citizens" in the face of the alleged corruption cases affecting the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). This position was echoed this morning by the religious institution's secretary general, Francisco César García Magán, who asserted that elections would be "a way out of the institutional deadlock." The Archbishopric of Tarragona and the Bishopric of Lleida distance themselves from this statement, and the Spanish government has already responded to the message, accusing the Church of "departing from political neutrality" in a letter signed by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, and addressed to the president of the Episcopal Conference.

The Catholic Church will order an "independent audit" to analyse complaints about sexual abuse, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has announced. Law firm Cremades & Calvo Sotelo has been commissioned to carry out the audit, whose aim is to open an "independent channel" to receive complaints and review legal procedures "aimed at punishing criminal practices". In addition, according to the Episcopal Conference's statement , collaboration is offered to the authorities to help clarify the claims and to establish a prevention system "that satisfies social demands in this respect".