Bishops of Spain prepare new document on moral crisis

Madrid, Spain, Apr 19, 2010 / 15:52 pm

This week at their plenary assembly, the bishops of Spain will prepare a document discussing the country's moral and economic crisis.

The president of the Bishops’ Committee on Social Ministry, Archbishop Santiago Garcia Aracil of Badajoz, will address the prelates on the crisis.

Last November, the bishops approved a statement in response to the moral and economic crisis in which they attributed the economic downturn to “the loss of moral values,” adding that the anti-life policies of the country will have economic repercussions for future generations.

“Dishonesty, greed—which is the root of all evil—and the lack of oversight of the financial structures brought on by the global economy,” are the causes of the crisis, the bishops said in the November document.  The victims of this crisis have been families, especially large ones, young people, the unemployed, small and medium-sized businesses, farmers, ranchers and immigrants.

The bishops called for solidarity with those most affected, because “poverty and unemployment degrade the dignity of the human being.”  They also criticized the “anti-life policies” of the Spanish government, which they said, endanger the economic well-being of future generations of Spaniards.