2023-06-28 09:39:00
June 28, 2023 / 2:39 a.m.
The Diocese of Almería (Spain) has rejected the complaints of some parishioners about the use that, with the permission of the bishop, a group of Ukrainian Eastern-rite Catholics make for the celebration of their liturgy in a temple.
Those dissatisfied with the situation have assured Almeria Newspaper that “the parish is ‘squatted’ by a group of Ukrainian Christians”, whom they accuse of having changed the ornamentation of the temple.
In Spain the expression “squatting” is used to refer to the “action of taking an uninhabited home or premises and settling in them without the consent of its owner”, as defined by the Royal Academy of Language.
According to these testimonies, the parishioners of the Latin rite have requested to meet with the Bishop, Msgr. Antonio Gómez Cantero, for at least two years, without obtaining a response.
The temple in which the dispute takes place is the Church of San Isidro, in the town of Huércal-Overa.
The Bishopric recalls, in response to the complaints, that it considers it “fraternal” to allow other Christians to make use of any temple of the Diocese, “without this implying a decrease in the use of the Catholic community of the Latin rite.”
It is also argued that this shared use “is a very common practice” both in Almería and in other Spanish Catholic dioceses “with other Christian denominations”.
Specifically, in the parish of San Luis Gonzaga in Almería the Anglican community celebrates and in the one dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the Russian Orthodox faithful.
The Bishopric defends that this type of action constitutes “a beautiful sign of universality, welcome and acceptance” even if they are from different churches.
Likewise, it emphasizes that the shared use of the temple “is carried out at times compatible with the celebrations” of the Catholic rite.
On the other hand, he points out that “there is no impediment or obstacle” to sharing the temple.
The Bishopric has made an appeal “for harmony and acceptance” at a time of “division and confrontation”, and “with a very special memory of the cruelty of the war that is lived in Ukrainian lands”.
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Nicolás de Cárdenas is a Spanish journalist specialized in socio-religious information. Since July 2022 he is a correspondent for ACI Prensa in Spain.
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