A Spanish priest with real pastoral responsibilities has publicly expressed his discomfort over the distance between the Spanish Episcopal Conference and the reality experienced by parishes and neighborhoods directly affected by mass immigration.
The priest, who is the parish priest in three neighborhoods of El Ejido (Almería), has lamented that “no one with ecclesiastical responsibilities” has asked him about the specific situation or possible pastoral measures in the face of the social and criminal effects associated with illegal immigration, following the statements by the president of the CEE, Monsignor Luis Argüello, supporting the Government’s Royal Decree on the extraordinary regularization of migrant persons.
In his intervention, disseminated on social networks, the priest denounces that messages are issued from the hierarchy without first listening to those who work on the ground and face daily problems of coexistence, social breakdown, and the presence of mafias. Likewise, he warns of the risk that the Church ends up being “complicit” by omission of these realities when it limits itself to supporting political decisions without serious pastoral discernment.
The priest’s statements come after the CEE Information Office disseminated a video in which Monsignor Argüello celebrated the government decree, appealing to concepts such as “democratic health” and “political opportunity”, without explicit reference to the problems derived from uncontrolled immigration or the State’s responsibility in this matter.