2023-09-19 18:04:43
The mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velázquez, has defined as “sterile controversy” the act carried out by the far-right Blas Piñar in a religious ceremony last Sunday in the capital of Castile-La Mancha. The son of the founder of Fuerza Nueva imposed his red military sash on the Virgin of Joy during an event in the Toledo church of San Andrés, in the presence of PP and Vox councilorsin which the officiating priest came to describe the image of the Virgin as “very general.”
The Archbishopric of Toledo denies the “political connotation” in the religious act carried out by Blas Piñar
Further
Asked by the media, Velázquez has downplayed the importance of the event and considers that the Archbishopric of Toledo has been “very correct” in the statement in which it expresses its position after the controversy generated by this event organized by the Brotherhood of the Virgin of Joy in which he rejects “any partisan political reading” of it.
“Whoever wants to look for political issues in an activity that has been celebrated in a traditional way for many years, and there are the chronicles, to know that it is a completely ordinary activity of the brotherhoods in the city of Toledo, well, it is trying to want talk about what you don’t want to talk about,” the mayor indicated when asked by the media, according to Europa Press.
The demonstration against the amnesty seems “more important” to him
This celebration caused discomfort on the part of the Toledo Catholic community who, through a statement, stated that they were “dismayed and deeply hurt by an act of outrage” because in their opinion “the delivery of the retired general’s sash to the Virgin of Joy by an individual whose political positions have been associated with extremism and non-democratic discourse raises serious questions about democratic values and tolerance in our society,”
However, the mayor, as he has stated, thinks the “large demonstration that is going to be in Madrid this Sunday” is “much more important”, in reference to the event called by the PP against an amnesty that has not materialized and despite that the leader of his party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is presenting himself for the investiture as President of the Government next week. At this meeting, Velázquez says, there will be “all the democrats and those of us who defend the Constitution.”
“I would like these people who are trying to fuel sterile controversies and trying to politicize acts that have a mere religious nature, to speak out publicly regarding what they are going to do with the amnesty. Whether or not it seems good to them that they amnesty and forgive the sentences of some people who carried out a coup d’état and who tried to stop Spain from being what it is today,” said Velázquez.
PSOE: a sample of “current extremism”
For her part, the spokesperson for the Municipal Socialist Group, Noelia de la Cruz, considers that the religious act It is a sample “of current extremism that does not represent the majority of Toledo residents.”.
The act, the socialist spokesperson pointed out, “has been carried out by a person sanctioned for acts that are not constitutional”, in reference to who is considered one of the eight promoters of the so-called ‘Manifesto of the 100’, which contained harsh accusations. to the press and demonstrations of sympathy towards the coup plotters of 23-F.
Thus, the councilor considers that municipal representatives should not attend this type of calls, as did councilors of the PP and Vox as well as military and police authorities, in which the parish priest declared the Virgin of Joy as “generalissima” .
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