The parliamentary group of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) in Congress has registered this Friday a bill that includes the elimination of the crime of offending religious feelings.
The Proposal for an Organic Law to guarantee and protect fundamental rights against harassment derived from abusive judicial actions presented in the Lower House provides for the elimination of article 525 of the Penal Code.
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It is precept establishes that “those who, in order to offend the feelings of the members of a religious denomination, publicly, orally, in writing or through any type of document, mock their dogmas, beliefs, rites or ceremonies, or humiliate, also publicly, those who profess or practice them.”
Secondly, it provides that “those who publicly mock, orally or in writing, those who do not profess any religion or belief” will incur the same penalties.
The PSOE argues in the explanatory statement of the proposed organic law (which affects the fundamental rights included in the Spanish Constitution) that “the most recent jurisprudence of the ECtHR (European Court of Human Rights) has considered that freedom of expression covers also ideas that offend, shock or disturb, so that people who profess a religion cannot reasonably expect exemption from all criticism, but must tolerate and accept that others reject their beliefs in a manner public.”
On the other hand, the PSOE maintains that the ECtHR has established that freedom of expression is limited to hate speech in such a way that “only at that point, and not before, does the positive obligation of intervention by the State arise.”
Consequently, the PSOE defends the repeal of the crime of offenses to religious feelings “in order to align Spanish legislation with that of several neighboring countries, including France, Sweden and Ireland.”
It also considers that the initiative tries to “guarantee that public and legitimate criticism can be made of the dogmas of faith, beliefs and rites of a religion, which is the minimum required in a democratic State that guarantees in a real sense the right to freedom of expression and creation.”
In his opinion, the repeal of article 525 of the Penal Code “does not represent a reduction in the protection of the fundamental right to religious freedom” since it is understood that its criminal protection is ensured in articles 522 to 524 of the same code.
Legal helplessness for believers
María García, president of the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC), is critical of the PSOE’s argument.
In statements to ACI Prensa, he points out that the main party of the Government “obviously that 21 of the 27 member states of the European Union sanction offenses to the religious feelings of citizens.”
Furthermore, remember that Greece also punishes blasphemy and that “all countries that criminalize crimes against religious feelings can punish them with prison sentences.”
For the president of the OLRC, “with this Government, believers are second-class citizens with fewer rights. From now on it will be free to mock people who practice a religion.”
A month ago, representatives of the Catholic Church, Christian confessions, Jews and Muslims in Spain rejected the possibility of repealing the crime of offending religious feelings, announced by the Minister of the Presidency Félix Bolaños.
In it joint statementthe different religious confessions claimed “the right of our faithful to be able to live their faith in a climate of respect for religious feelings, protected by other rights also constitutionally protected, such as the right to religious freedom, freedom of conscience and the right to dignity and moral integrity.”
Furthermore, they pointed out that “the violation of religious freedom has also led to the censorship of freedom of expression, so the comprehensive protection of religious freedom is a guarantee for the full exercise” of this right.
The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Mons. Luis Arguello, stated upon learning of the Executive’s intention to eliminate this crime that “feelings have been elevated to legal status, for example, to be able to change sex; More and more expressions are considered hate crimes. In this environment of legal praise of emotions, religious feelings cease to be a protected legal asset,” he highlighted.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.