The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, has convened a “church summit” for tomorrow at La Moncloa to address sexual abuses in the Church with the general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), César García Magán, and the secretary of CONFER, Jesús Miguel Zamora, according to the portal ‘Vida Nueva’. What the Government presents as a gesture of institutional collaboration is, in reality, one more step in its strategy of political control over the religious sphere, taking advantage of the climate of distrust created around reparation for clerical pedophilia.
The meeting comes just five days after Bolaños’s express trip to the Vatican, where he met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, accompanied by Ambassador Isabel Celaá. In that conversation, the minister’s two star topics—the Valley of the Fallen and abuses by the clergy—were once again raised as pieces of the same board.
The Government’s Moral Barter
The Government does not hide its intention to link both issues. Last February, Bolaños committed before the Holy See to “unblocking” the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen, a project that seeks to strip the site of its religious meaning to transform it into a commemorative park for “democratic memory”.
In exchange, the plan for indemnities to victims of ecclesiastical abuses was carefully postponed: the minister promised a parliamentary subcommittee that will not yield results until, at the earliest, 2026.
No justice, no truth, no reparation. Just a vague promise and new headlines. The Government buys time and the appearance of dialogue; and the Episcopal Conference, apparently, accepts silence as currency for stability.
The Prudence That Borders on Complicity
After the February agreement, the Catholic Church’s attitude has been one of «prudent» collaboration, even at the cost of renouncing positions it previously defended firmly. What in another time would have been denounced as state interference in ecclesiastical affairs is now justified with words like “accompaniment” or “constructive dialogue”.
The Church still has time to speak clearly. Not to defend privileges, but to remind the political power that the Church is not governed from La Moncloa.
And if the Episcopal Conference has decided to remain silent for strategic reasons, it is worth remembering that silence in the face of injustice is not prudence, but complicity.