A story on the Spanish Independent Catholic news service, IglesiaNoticias.es, picked up by the UK’s Catholic Herald, revealed a more liberal stance towards the LGBT community than we might have expected. Apparently two Spanish bishops – Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid and newly enthroned Bishop José Antonio Satué of Málaga, who recently visited St George’s – have publicly rejected the so-called “conversion therapy” for people who identify as gay.
Madrid-based Christian gay rights group, CRISMHOM, released a statement thanking the bishops for their support, describing them as “gatekeepers who open their arms to welcome rather than impose a conversion in which we renounce the gift of the rainbow” and praised them for “building a diverse Church made of living stones.”
Both bishops are relatively new in post. Cardinal Cobo, who succeeded Cardinal Carlos Osoro in Madrid last year, has spoken of the need for the Church to “accompany” people who identify as LGBT, while Bishop Satué has stressed the importance of a pastoral approach that avoids confrontation and is framed in the language of inclusivity.
The news site regards this more liberal stance on issues of sexuality as reflecting a broader direction under Pope Leo XIV, who has made a series of appointments that signal continuity with the more progressive approach of his predecessor, Pope Francis. But it also recognises that this is not where the rest of the Catholic church currently finds itself on this issue: apparently some traditionalist Catholic platforms have condemned what they describe as “capitulation” to secular ideology, and accuse the bishops of leading the faithful astray.
Read the full article (in Spanish) here.