The Spanish government has protested to the Vatican over a veiled appeal from Catholic bishops for voters to shun the ruling Socialists in elections next month, according to the Spanish foreign minister. The Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Francisco Vazquez, met with a Vatican official Saturday to express "perplexity and surprise" over the bishops' comments, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Saturday.
In a communique released Wednesday, the Spanish Bishops Conference made clear its view that Spanish voters should not back parties that support gay marriage or other social reforms the church frowns on, or negotiations with armed Basque militants — clearly references to the governing Socialists.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero enacted legalization of same-sex marriages and streamlined divorce procedures, and tried in vain to negotiate a peace accord with the armed Basque group ETA in 2006.
Moratinos, speaking in the southern city of Cordoba, criticized the church hierarchy in Spain as "fundamentalist and neo-conservative."
He said the church does not represent a majority of Spanish Catholics and is "using terrorism politically to divide all Spaniards."Moratinos added: "We want to maintain a better level of relations with the Holy See, but we do not understand this posture."
In Spain, the Catholic Church's leaders have long sided with the right and they supported the fascist forces of late Gen. Francisco Franco in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and his ensuing near four-decade dictatorship.
Under democracy, the church has consistently backed the conservatives in elections although it never names any political party.
In its statement the Spanish Bishop's Conference said that while "Catholics may support and join different parties it is also true that not all (electoral) programs are equally compatible with the faith and Christian demands in life."
The statement cited Pope Benedict XVI in urging protection for the traditional form of marriage, and it criticized government moves to restrict religious teaching in school.
On the issue of talks with armed groups, the bishops said: "A society which wants to be free and fair must neither, explicitly nor implicitly, recognize a terrorist organization as a political representative of any sector of the population."
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