Toledo, Spain, Dec 9, 2009 / 18:39 pm
Bishop Jose Sanchez of Siguenza-Guadalajara in Spain wondered aloud Monday why the Spanish government is so concerned about the removal of crucifixes in the classroom instead of the country's “very high drop-out rate, disagreements among teachers and youth unemployment.”
According to Europa Press, Bishop Sanchez’s latest pastoral letter focuses on a proposal in the Congressional Committee on Education that calls for the Spanish government to implement a ruling from the EU Human Rights Court ordering crucifixes be removed from all schools in Italy.
“I won’t discuss whether or not this is a distraction by the government, which is overwhelmed by the grave economic situation, high unemployment and is on the verge of passing a law expanding abortion.” The prelate noted that abortion is a much more serious issue than the “crucifixes, because it elevates the elimination of innocent and defenseless human beings to a right, even more than the current law does, which itself is unjust.”
Bishop Sanchez said that with the approval of this proposal on crucifixes, the question is whether the government “has given yet another sign that is part of a more ambitious plan: that of reducing the action of religion, and more concretely that of the Catholic faith.”