"We don't want you to come in this way" Christian Network opposing the use of public money for the papal visit.
The Pope will be visiting Spain in August as part of the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day. In May the jobless rate among Spain’s generally well-educated young people reached nearly 45 percent, a record in any industrialized country. How will this angry “lost generation” react to a huge religious festival at public expense ? especially when even the Pope’s wealthy corporate sponsors are only paying for 20 percent of “their” donations?
The official website of the World Youth Day (WYD) shows a hierarchy of donors: Partner, Sponsor, Friend, Media Partner and 2011 Business. Only the contribution of this last, lowest level is revealed: a 2011 Business must provide € 2011 per month in cash or in kind to the WYD. But then, of course, it gets 80 percent of it returned by the Government in a tax rebate.
Some Spaniards resent this drain on the public purse, including many faithful. The Christian Network, which brings together 147 liberal Catholic groups in Spain, has spoken out aginst the papal visit in a booklet summarised by the following news story.
Grass-roots Christians oppose the Pope’s visit
Cristianos de base se oponen a la visita del Papa, El Plural, 27 May 2011
The Christian Network, founded in Madrid in 2005, wants to make the Catholic Church, “a little more in the style and practice of Jesus of Nazareth”. It advocates equality for women, elimination of homphobia, greater opportunity for the poor, interreligious dialogue, increased particpation of the laity and internal democracy for the Church.
Criticism is being voiced about spending some 50 million euros in the midst of a crisis in order to consolidate “the privileges of the Catholic Church in a nonconfessional state”. The World Youth Day (WYD) which will take place from 16-21 August this year in Madrid is being questioned not only by atheist and secular groups, but also by the Church’s own grass-roots Christians who question the spending of “around 50 million euros” on an event “too focused on the Pope” and in the midst of a severe economic crisis.
In a document published online Christian Network.Net, grass-roots Christians, are questioning devoting so many resources to “the consolidation of the privileges of the Catholic Church in a secular State like ours”, and wonder if “it would be better to invest this money in social work”.
No consensus
Moreover, the grass-roots Christians complain that “official messages being transmitted from the organization of WYD do not come from the consensus that it would have been necessary to reach among all sectors of the Church in Spain.”
The model presented to young people and the world
The Christian groups that make up Network reported that the WYD in Madrid “presents to young people and the world a model of the Church that still holds in the 21st century as a pyramidal structure that is not democratic”.
The World Youth Day sponsors
Christian Network points out that the organization and funding of World Youth Day is the responsibility of the “Madrid Vivo Foundation”, whose sponsors include:
Emilio Botin (Santander, the largest bank in the Eurozone),
Inigo Oriol (former president of Iberdrola, Spain’s biggest power company and one of the largest utility companies in the world),
Gerardo Díaz Ferrán (president of the CEOE, the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations),
Catalina Luca de Tena (editor of ABC, Spain’s third-largest national daily, generally known as monarchist and conservative),
Salvador Santos Campano (president of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce),
Cesar Alierta (Chairman of Telefónica, the number one Spanish multinational by market capitalisation and one of the largest private telecommunications companies in the world),
BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a multinational Spanish banking group),
La Caixa (Europe’s leading savings bank and Spain’s third largest financial institution),
El Corte Ingles (the biggest department store group in Europe and fourth largest worldwide),
OHL International Construction Group,
Iberia (the flag carrier airline of Spain),
Endesa (the largest electric utility company in Spain),
The Prisa Group (a Spanish media conglomerate),
FCC (a leading Spanish construction company),
etc.
The sponsors were received in July 2010 by Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
Companies will be reimbursed 80% of their outlay
Companies that contribute to the financing of the WYD may deduct up to 80% of the funds provided, because it has been declared “an event of exceptional public interest” in the State Budget of 2010, according to Christian Network in their paper, which states that the amounts contributed to the sponsorship will be subject to tax deductions under section 27 of the Taxation Act.
Sanitation, logistics, health and safety
Christian Network also points out that the three public administrations (National, Regional Government of Madrid and Madrid City Council) have agreed to fund and ensure the safety of the event, as well as matters relating to health, cleaning and logistics, which will cost between 20 and 25 million euros. (El Publico, 11 January 2011).
Hostels
According to Christian Network, the Madrid Regional Government, in an agreement signed on June 22, 2010, has also offered “visitor discounts, to be determined” as well as places in “hostels, institutions and colleges”.
Notes
The Spanish for World Youth Day (WYD) is Jornada Mundial de la Juventud (JMJ).
“Youth Protests Sweep Spain As Unemployment Soars”, NPR, 26 May 2011. http://www.npr.org/2011/05/26/136683688/youth-protests-sweep-spain-as-unemployment-soars
Concordat Watch | 1st June 2011
3 Responses to Spain: Catholic groups oppose papal visit to Madrid
catch hold of the people who are responsible for the economic mess instead of wasting your energy pope-bashing
What these secular brethren are afraid of?
The Holy Father is the Successor of Peter and as such he brings the Good News of His Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Kill the Universal Faith and you have a Martyr in Heaven.
Need to grow up -it’s about time, ‘secular’ friends!
The Pope is just an old guy who used to be in the Nazi brown shirts and who is now advocating unprotected sex and thus helping spread AIDS and other STDs among millions of people. We, the secular people, OPPOSE any special treatment given to the Pope, nor to anyone else whose only merit is their BELIEF in an imaginary being. It is YOU Catholics who need to grow up and stop believing nonsense!