Madrid, Spain, Jun 22, 2006 / 22:00 pm
A Guardia Civil commander in Cordoba, Spain, Jose Ignacio Criado, has denied a request by two officers at a post in the town of Almodovar del Rio to remove a statue of Our Lady of the Pilar from their office.
The two officers complained the statue of Mary should be removed because it is “a symbol of the Catholic religion being displayed at the official headquarters of state public administration.”
Criado responded that public recognition of Our Lady of Pilar as the patroness of the Guardia Civil Corps simply “constitutes an acknowledgement of an historic tradition, and in no way violates the rights of any Guardia Civil officers.”
Another Guardia Civil officer who is being sent to the post at Almodovar del Rio has filed a petition with the organization’s headquarters asking that the statue not be removed from the office.
On January 7, 1913, the head of the Guardia Civil requested that Our Lady of the Pilar be officially declared Patroness of the Corps. Six days later on January 13, King Alfonso XIII granted the request.
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