Catalan bishops distance themselves from the political incursion masterminded by Argüello

The unusual stance taken by a section of the episcopate as the political opposition has angered Catalan bishops, who are unhappy with the Church's leadership breaking its political neutrality.

The Archbishop of Tarragona, Joan Planellas, who is also president of the Tarragona Episcopal Conference, was the first to step forward and distance himself from the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) and its secretary and spokesperson. "We couldn't remain silent," was the statement Planellas made yesterday afternoon in an interview with La Vanguardia.

The political crisis was not addressed at the EEC's permanent meeting, but Magán created the appearance that it was and took a position

In the days leading up to the election, Luis Argüello, first on Sunday for the newspaper ABC , and César García Magán, this Friday after the meeting of the permanent commission of the EEC, called for an early election in light of the crisis surrounding the Cerdán-Ábalos-Koldo case. García Magán even suggested that the King intervene to facilitate these elections.

"We do not share these statements at all," Planellas told this newspaper. The Archbishop of Tarragona stated that he was giving his opinion in a personal capacity, although other church sources indicate that this is a sentiment widely shared within the Catalan episcopate.

According to his insistence, the political crisis gripping the PSOE and Pedro Sánchez's government was not formally discussed at the last meeting of the CEE's permanent committee, held this week in Madrid. Joan Planellas and the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Juan José Omella, attended the meeting.

That point, the political situation, was not on the agenda. It was not discussed. However, once outside the meeting, spokesperson and secretary García Magán created the opposite appearance, revisiting Argüello's statement on Sunday. At the level of public opinion, the effect was unequivocal: it seemed that this demand for general elections was a consensual position shared by the entire leadership of the prelates, when in reality this was not the case. "On this point (the early elections), García Magán could not speak on behalf of all the bishops because we had not even discussed it in the permanent meeting," Planellas asserts. He adds: "It is important to be very clear that Luis Argüello has always spoken in his personal capacity, as Archbishop of Valladolid, and that his statements do not represent all the bishops."

Therefore, there is no official position from the Spanish episcopate on what to do regarding the alleged corruption case that directly affects the PSOE. "There are only personal opinions," other church sources familiar with the episcopal meeting told La Vanguardia yesterday. "You may or may not agree with the option advocated by Argüello, but it is a respectable opinion that some bishops do not share."

What's even more surprising is that, just a few days later and given the current climate of political tension, the president of the European Commission participated in a book launch in Madrid alongside the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, the sources consulted added.

More surprises. Spokesperson García Magán's remarks, delivered at the CEE headquarters, have caused astonishment in ecclesiastical circles for another reason. It turns out that García Magán did not participate in the meeting of the permanent committee, as he was supposed to travel to Turkey to participate in a meeting of secretaries of episcopal conferences. César García Magán expressed his personal opinion when journalists asked him about Argüello's statements on ABC.

According to Archbishop Planellas, the Church should not align itself with any political line, much less point to any tendency, in a veiled allusion to the far right. "Its mission is not to enter into political combat," he concludes. This does not mean, he adds, that the episcopate and the ecclesial community as a whole should refrain from strongly condemning "all forms of corruption."

"The Catholic Church is not here to bring down governments," the sources consulted point out, recalling a phrase uttered by the former president of the EEC during his term.