In a letter sent to the European Parliament and to Spanish parliamentary groups, as well as to international institutions, Spanish evangelicals denounced the alarming lack of religious neutrality on the part of the Spanish government.
The Federation of Religious Evangelical Entities of Spain (FEREDE) draws attention to the inequality and discrimination that Protestants suffer in the country and calls for international support to lobby parliament and the government that emerges from next March 14 elections, to rectify the discriminatory policy against religious minorities.
The FEREDE represents more than 800,000 Evangelical Christians grouped together in more than 2,000 Churches in the country, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
According to Protestants, the discrimination affecting religious minorities in Spain for centuries has yet to be fully resolved by any democratic government. They say it is unfortunate that none of the electoral programs presented by political parties for upcoming elections address the issue of religious equality and neutrality.
Mariano Blázquez Executive secretary and legal representative of FEREDE said that after “25 years of constitutional period very few things have improved in the religious freedom scenario in our country.”
He mentioned the limited right to demonstrate in public spaces, difficult access to public centers for religious activities and the fact that Protestant Churches are not granted the same tax exemptions as the Roman Catholic Church.
Moreover, the State budget only contemplates the Catholic Church. These benefits are not conceded to other confessions under the argument that it is a “transitory situation.”
The document also said that Protestant organizations have difficulties obtaining public soil to build places of worship, in flagrant contrast to the habitual practice of offering or conceding public municipal land to the Catholic Church.
It also denounced the identification of public institutions with Catholic worship, which violates the principle of State neutrality.
Blazquez emphasized the limited or null development of what is established in the general regulations on Religious Freedom or in the Cooperation Agreements, something that implies a lack of recognition of religious plurality and two kinds of citizens: The first, with privileges, the second, that do not enjoy full fundamental rights.
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Federación de Entidades Religiosas Evangélicas de España (FEREDE)
The evangelical Christian churches in Spain are organized into a national federation through which they are officially recognized by the state. FEREDE is an acronym for "Federación de Entidades Religiosas Evangélicas de España" (Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain), formed in November of 1986 to act on behalf of its constituent churches. It is originally the work of the Comisión de Defensa Evangélica (formed in 1956 to defend the interests of evangelicals nationwide). The following confessions are represented: Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Bretheren, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, Reformed and Salvation Army. The number of active members making up the distinct churches pertaining to FEREDE reaches 65,000. The federation includes 1,300 congregations, 300 pastors and various social institutions associated with the churches.
FEREDE
Princesa, 3 dpdo. Despacho 1308
28008 Madrid
SPAIN
telephone: (34) 91-547-3170
fax: (34) 91-541-1874
