Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, Archbishop of Seville, said this week the Church "does not have an ideology" but rather "the Gospel of Jesus Christ," and that the Church "does not belong to any political party."

Cardinal Amigo made his statements during a conference held at the Universidad Cardenal Herrera, where he said that "a pluralistic state is not an enemy of religion," because it should guarantee the right of parents toprovide religious education to their children."

In this sense, continued the Cardinal, "in its roots Europe is either Christian or it is simply not Europe," and what a person needs to be taught for his or her formation, such as religion, should not be optional, "just as philosophy, mathematics or physics" are not.