Campaigners in Spain have called for the government to prosecute Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, who has denounced the influence of gender ideology and what he called a “gay empire”.
In a homily on May 13, Cardinal Cañizares, who is former prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and current Archbishop of Valencia, said: “The family is being stalked today, in our culture, by endlessly grave difficulties, while it suffers serious attacks, which are hidden from no one.
“We have legislation contrary to the family, the acts of political and social forces, to which are added movements and acts by the gay empire, by ideologies such as radical feminism, or the most insidious of all, gender ideology.
“When the family is attacked or is diminished, the most sacred forms of human relationship are perverted.”
According to LifeSiteNews, members of the Feminist Platform of Alicante formally asked the Spanish government to prosecute the cardinal for “inciting discrimination and hatred” through his sermon. Other organisations including the LGBT collective of Valencia said they too would file an official complaint with the Office of Hate Crimes.
The Spanish Network for Refugees has also joined the call for Cardinal Cañizares to be prosecuted. The cardinal has previously been critical of open border immigration.
The groups want the cardinal charged with apologia, a Spanish term for encouraging or defending a criminal act. In response, the cardinal asked whether it was “homophobic to defend the family”.
He requested “objective” lawyers to assess whether what he said was “against the law” or homophobic. He also published his homily in full.
Francis to meet Auschwitz survivors during Poland visit
Pope Francis will visit the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau during his visit to Poland for World Youth Day next month.
He will also commemorate the 1,050th anniversary of Christianity in Poland, pray at the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, hear confessions and have lunch with young people.
The Pope’s trip will be his 15th outside Italy. He will visit three cities, give eight speeches and celebrate three Masses.
Pope Francis will be visiting Auschwitz in the year of the 75th anniversary of the death of St Maximilian Kolbe, who offered his life for another prisoner at the camp during World War II. The Pope is expected to meet camp survivors and pray alone in the bunker where St Maximilian had been locked up.
Pope Francis will meet Polish government authorities as well as bishops and Religious, but the focus of his visit will be the closing events of World Youth Day, whose theme is: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
The Pope will visit the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Łagiewniki and walk through its Holy Door of Mercy.
Vandals smash statue of Christ
Hooded vandals destroyed a statue of the crucified Christ when they looted a church in Santiago, Chile, last Thursday during a student protest. They also removed other religious icons from the Gratitud Nacional church.
The president of the students’ federation denied that the desecration was committed by students. Church authorities have criticised the Santiago city government for permitting the march.
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