Following protests from queer groups in the region, the diocese of Cuenca cancelled a course for priests on homosexuality planned for this Tuesday, as reported by the newspaper "El Heraldo".
The criticism was directed in particular at the organisation Courage International, which was to coordinate the seminar.
The Catholic group is aimed at gay and lesbian Catholics and encourages them to lead a chaste life.
During their protest on Monday outside the San Fernando church in Cuenca, where the course was to take place, regional homosexual groups criticised Courage International for treating homosexuality as an illness and recommending prayer and abstinence.
They accused the church of inciting priests to engage in so-called conversion therapies.
Diocese: It's not about "therapy"
The diocese rejected the accusation. Courage International itself emphasised that its "pastoral work excludes behavioural therapy of any kind and in any form".
The group merely wants to accompany people "who wish to do so of their own free will and want to live their faith in a way that corresponds to their own situation".
Nevertheless, the diocese of Cuenca apparently cancelled the course in the wake of a nationwide debate about the church's stance on homosexuality.
This was triggered last week by the case of a homosexual Catholic mayor in the central Spanish municipality of Torrecaballeros, who was refused Holy Communion by the local priest.
Queer organisations also accused the church of offering controversial conversion therapies at several locations, which are intended to reduce homosexual tendencies.
The "Spanish Association Against Conversion Therapies" therefore reported seven dioceses to the Ministry of Equality.
However, the Church rejects this accusation, which is apparently also supported by the Ministry.
Bishop criticises ministry
Bishop Jose Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante criticised the ministry for wanting to prevent the Church from "providing pastoral care to people with homosexual tendencies and helping them to live the virtue of chastity".
The bishop also called it contradictory that those who defended the freedom to carry out radical gender-medical interventions wanted to prohibit homosexuals from what they saw as "conversion therapy".
In his radio programme, Munilla had already defended the right to such services on several occasions: "If you have the right to take hormones or have surgery, why shouldn't you also have the right to undergo psychological therapy to reverse your homosexuality?"
The Catholic Catechism, the statement of church doctrine published by the Vatican, distinguishes between homosexual tendencies and homosexual acts that are to be rejected.
It emphasises that people with same-sex orientation must not be discriminated against.