Government calls on Vatican to stop meddling

2 August 2004

MADRID – A senior government official has called for a pact with the Vatican to prevent the Catholic Church “meddling” in public affairs.

Soledad Murillo, the secretary general for equality, said on Monday that she was against the Vatican’s newly announced posture on the role of women and she doubted whether many Catholic women shared the Church’s views.

Speaking before entering a conference on domestic violence, Murillo said it was insolent “to think that people should be measured by their biology.
On this occasion the Vatican seems to be very worried for our vocation as mothers but not as victims.”

Her comments followed a document released last month by the Catholic Church in which, among other issues, it condemns radical feminism and calls for women to play a more back-seat role.

Murillo said she was surprised by the Vatican’s recommendations. “Speaking of vocations and nature it puts us right in the Middle Ages.
It’s very serious that there should be this meddling by the Church in the public domain.

“It’s meddling to say that women should not work, and it’s meddling to urge the government on inequality, because that supposes urging the government to create conditions for them not to work.”

Murillo said she would like to see a revision of the current system of government grants to the Church, which would include “a no-meddling pact in public affairs”.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news