The murder of Diego Valencia, sacristan of the parish of La Palma de Algeciras at the hands of an alleged Islamist has shocked the whole of Spain. The Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference has strongly condemned the murder and pointed out, however, that "we cannot and should not demonize collectives or groups in general" as a result of these crimes.
The Algeciras attack
A radical Islamist "lone wolf" sowed terror in the town of Algeciras, Cadiz, on Wednesday evening, January 25. Shortly after 19:30 the individual entered the parish of San Isidro where he seriously wounded the parish priest and several parishioners and then went to the nearby parish of La Palma where he began to throw elements of worship.
The sacristan, Diego Valencia, tried to stop him and the man hit him repeatedly with a machete causing his death at the entrance of the church. Shortly thereafter, the man was arrested and brought to justice.
The condemnation of this event as well as the expressions of condolences to the family and friends of Diego Valencia and the diocese of Cádiz and CeutaThe Secretary General and spokesman for the Spanish Episcopal Conference at the breakfast meeting organized by New Economy Forum in Madrid.
Bishop Francisco César García Magán expressed the sadness and sorrow of all the Catholic faithful for the victims of this event. In this sense, he pointed out that Diego, "offered his life in a certain way for the priest" pastor of the Church to whom, apparently, the attack was directed.
The bishop has strongly condemned this attack, pointing out that "when violence is justified in the name of God, it is taking the name of God in vain. Regardless of what name God takes for that justification".
Along with this, García MagánHe pointed out that, in view of these events "we cannot and should not demonize collectives or groups in general" and recalled the condemnation of the attack expressed yesterday by the Spanish Islamic Commission.
We cannot identify terrorism with any religion
"We cannot identify terrorism with any religion", stressed the spokesman of the Spanish bishops. García Magán confirmed that yesterday he was able to speak with the diocesan bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta, Monsignor Rafael Zornoza Boy, who was in Algeciras at the time.
Along with this painful topic, the Secretary of the Spanish Bishops wanted to emphasize in his speech that the fact of his presence in a forum such as the one that welcomed him responds to the inherent relationship of the Church with the world that surrounds it. This relationship, he said, "has a Christological foundation: God becomes man in a given space and time. The Church has this relationship in order to be in the world and to be in the world. The evangelizing mission of the Church is a mission in space-time". A reason that, in his opinion, grounds the voice of the Church in the issues that mark the history of the human being.
The second of the major issues that the bishops' spokesman was asked about centered on the abortion law and some measures that the government of the community of Castilla y León offers to the mother to listen to her baby. the beat of the child's heart before making the decision to abort.
At this point, García Magán stressed that the Church has to defend life "in all its aspects, totally. Not only at the moment of its conception, but also when it has no other way out than crossing the Mediterranean in a boat to live, when it is sick or when it suffers domestic violence.
Likewise, the EEC spokesman stressed that he hopes that, in the case of abortion, there will be a "social maturation" that will lead to seeing its terrible reality, as has been experienced in the case of domestic violence or slavery.
