Catalonia: license required to pray

miércoles, enero 30, 2008

From HAZTEOIR.ORG (link en español, por favor, leedlo, es de suma importancia):

The law project will arrive at the Catalan Parliament next week. It is a true attack on freedom of expression, freedom of cult and religion: it won't be allowed to have Mass or any other religious services or even to speak about religion without a town license. MP Glòria Renom is making a call for the defense of the rights of Christians and of the rest of religions.

The new "Law of the regulation of centers of cult and of reunion with religious purposes" will arrive in the Catalan Autonomous Parliament next week, presented by the Catalan Autonomous Government VP, José Luis Carod Rovira. According to the MP, it is a law "which intervenes tremendously in religious life and which affects directly to the Catholic Church and has retroactive character, because no Mass will take place and no one could gather with others to speak about religion without a town license, neither in the smaller church nor in the biggest cathedral".

The project states that to gather in a local "with religious purposes", it should have a license. And the license will be given or removed by the Town Major's office. And that Major's office can remove it to any person and when it wants to.

If this law is passed, each Major will be able to shut down any parroquial for not having a license to carry on religious activities. No other church will be opened in Catalonia if the political power does not want it. Moreover, the political power will be able to shut down all the churches it wants, just by not granting them the license or not renewing their licenses. But there is more. If a church wants to have a license or wants to maintain it or wants to renew it, the priests will have to submit to the ideological and moral codes given by the political power.

But there is even more: this law implies that for a simple gathering on a street, in a park or in the countryside to sing religious songs or to pray or to make a pilgrimage or processions is just a crime if you don't have the correspondent license to make that religious activity. [We will see what the final consideration is, as the Generalitat does not have criminal competences].

The law project states that for a Major's office to let happen a religious activity, it could take into account the "proportions with the population of the town". What does this means? That no licenses will be given or they will be removed to towns with a very little number of believers that justifies the religious activity. So a lot of churches can be closed when this law will be published in the Official Bulletin of the Generalitat. Even great churches like Monastery of Montserrat or of Poblet could be shut on this grounds.

What does this mean? That in Catalonia the persecution opened against the Christianism and the Christians just about to begin. [And I must add: to any religious beign, whether you are Christian, Jewish, Bhuddist...].

This project has been written by the Religious Affairs' Direction of the Catalonian Autonomous Government, which depends of the Vicepresidency of Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira (from the Nationalist extremists of Catalan Republican Left).

So, Renom adds, she would like to have the opinion of associations and groups which could give basis to her intervention in Catalan Parliament in defense of the freedom of cult and religions and to "be able to achieve some justice for our Church".

And no, not even think by one second they are going to use this to shut down mosques in which the jihadi ideology is preached. There is a huge number of mosques which are illegal and they are not shut now. This has nothing to do with the fight against terror. This is JUST to fight religion, because it can be a juicy obstacle in their political plans.

Oh, and this is not a rumour. The project is actually on the Diary of Sessions of the Catalonian Autonomous Community's Parliament.

Sent to Open Trackbacks at Dumb Ox.

----------------
Now playing: Bon Jovi - It's My Life
via FoxyTunes