100 Spanish groups and associations say they want the pope to cancel the beatification, which they denounce as “hypocritical and cynical”.
Pope Francis has been asked to halt the beatification of more than 500 “martyrs of the faith” killed during the Spanish civil war, amid fresh controversy over the political role played by the Roman Catholic Church in the conflict and during the Franco era.
The appeal was made public in advance of a planned mass in Tarragona on Sunday to beatify 522 priests, monks, nuns and Catholic laymen who the Church says fell victim to religious persecution during the 1936-39 war.
The ceremony is the latest in a series of moves by the Church to bestow religious honours on members of the Spanish clergy killed by militias in republican-held areas early in the conflict. The civil war ended in victory for Francisco Franco’s nationalists.
Spanish activists representing more than 100 groups and associations say they want the pope to cancel the beatification, which they denounce as “hypocritical and cynical”. In a letter published on Friday, they also call on him to apologise to Spaniards for the Church’s role in “helping and legitimising the military uprising and the Franco dictatorship that claimed so many victims”.
Signed by an alliance of Spanish groups that demand full scrutiny of abuses and crimes committed under Franco, the letter to Pope Francis says:
“After the death of the dictator nothing changed. In the current democratic period, Spain’s Catholic hierarchy has taken the same line. On the one side, it extols some victims through mass beatifications and canonisations and, on the other side, it forgets the Francoist repression.”
Critics also argue that the Spanish clergy offered crucial political and ideological support to Franco both before and during war, which it hailed as a “crusade” against communists and anarchists. The Catholic Church went on to serve as a pillar of the Franco regime, enjoying not only financial privileges but also huge influence over areas such as education and family law.
Source: Financial Times.
My comment:
Most of the Europeans are indoctrinated in public schools. No teacher ever told them about the Roman Catholic-Fascist nexus.
The Pope was exiled from Rome in 1870, after he lost a popular vote.
The Italians was simply tired of the religious tyranny of the Papacy.
Now, who brought the Pope back to Rome?
In 1929, the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini gifted Pope Pius XI the Vatican statehood.
The deal was that the Roman Catholic Church would support the New Fascist government, and Catholicism would be reintroduced as the state religion.
From 1929 onwards, there was basically no difference between a Fascist in Italy and a Roman Catholic.
The Fascists were baptized and confirmed in Roman Catholic Churches, both in Italy and in Spain.
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
In 1933, the Pope also made a “peace treaty” with the Nazis. In 1934, the Catholic Zentrum Party merged with the Nazi-party in Germany.
There was no longer any visible and doctrinal difference between a Catholic and a Fascist. Now, Pope Francis from former Fascist Argentina honors the “heroes” of former Fascist Spain.
Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
Run, run for life if you want to escape the fire of Hell. Do no longer stand as a member and supporter of a “Church”, governed by the priesthood of Satan.
Written by Ivar
ivarfjeld.com 