Vatican gives Spanish Church go-ahead to penalise collusion with terrorists

THE Vatican has given the go-ahead to the Spanish Church to penalise any priests who were in collusion with Basque terrorist group ETA.

Pope Francis has expressed his “proximity” to the victims of terrorism in response to a letter from the Pro Guardia Civil Association (APROGC) and also refers to the internal channels of the Spanish Church as having the jurisdiction to put an end to any possible collusion with ETA by some priests in the Basque Country.

The response is dated March 4 and is the reply to the President of APROGC, Begoña Uña Cantalapiedra, following complaints about the view of ETA of the parish priest of Lemoa (Vizcaya) in a documentary series for television.

The letter mentions the Pope’s prayers for all the victims, as well as saying that if a priest or member of the church is penalised for their alleged ties to the terrorist group they may also appeal the decision.

APROGC denounced the “deplorable behaviour of part of the Basque clergy”, which motivated the letter of December 15 asking the Pope to intervene regarding statements such as the one made by the parish priest of Lemoa in which they said he “justified the terrorist gang by playing down its attacks”. They asked the Pope to show that he is “inflexible regarding inappropriate attitudes of Church members.”

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