Bishops act in faithfulness to gospel, not in response to government, says head of Spanish Bishops’ Conference

Madrid, Spain, Nov 21, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The President of the Bishops’ Conference of Spain, Bishop Ricardo Blazquez, said this week the bishops carry out their pastoral work “not in reaction to the initiatives of the government,” but in faithfulness to “Jesus Christ and the Gospel,” which they proclaim “boldly and without fear.”

Making his remarks as the bishops opened their fall assembly, Bishop Blazquez noted that rather than interpreting everything the bishops do as a “no”, “it should be understood as the reverse of a huge ‘yes’.”

When the bishops oppose such issues as abortion, euthanasia and same sex unions, he said, they do so in order to denounce “that which confuses, degrades, wastes and leads man astray.”

Regarding the government’s new policy on education, Bishop Blazquez expressed his hopes that it was still possible to come up with one that would satisfy “almost all sectors of society.”

He said the bishops not only want religion to be recognized in the new education policy, but also that the education of young people in Spain “be improved, as the present and future of our society is determined by it.”

During their gathering the bishops will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II.  Bishop Blazquez said the commemoration would serve as a means of deepening their understanding of purpose for which the Popes convened the historic event.