The parish priest of Torrecaballeros, in the province of Segovia in Spain informed the town’s mayor Rubén García de Andrés that he was forbidden to receive the sacred communion because of his sexual orientation and living in a couple, according to a report by 20 Minutos. Shortly afterward, García de Andrés wrote on X that he could not commune for being homosexual, prompting support from fellow townspeople, political figures, members of the clergy, and even neighboring towns.
“In other words, if you’re in the closet and are more false than Judas, you can commune and that’s it,” said García de Andrés, reported 20 Minutos. He noted that he had been told the situation would be “different” if he were “only gay and followed a path of conversion.” He emphasized that he decided not to remain silent and denounced what he described as homophobia on the part of the Church of Segovia, adding that “the spring of Francis has not reached the Church of Segovia. What a pity.”
Residents of Torrecaballeros expressed disapproval of the priest’s actions. Several neighbors gathered at the church doors without taking part in the Sunday Mass, reported El Nuevo Día. Other priests also reached out personally to García de Andrés.
The Socialist Party (PSOE) in Segovia publicly denounced what it described as a refusal of communion because of sexual orientation and being married to people of the same sex, requesting the Segovian Diocese intervene to end this discrimination, reported Diario de Sevilla.
PSOE leaders demanded that the new bishop of Segovia, Jesús Vidal Chamorro, upon his arrival, pay attention to this situation of discrimination and not allow hatred based on the sexual orientation of parishioners to spread in what they described as a tolerant and respectful province, reported El Nuevo Día. “The denial of communion was discrimination based on sexual orientation, which could not be allowed in any institution, not even in the Church,” said Iratxe García, the president of the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, reported Vanguardia.
De Andrés, a socialist and an active parishioner, recalled that two years earlier he was removed from the service he provided to the Diocese as a celebrant of the word for political reasons, then was later told the same orientation-based reasons applied at that time as well, reported 20 Minutos. “Then I didn’t make it public. Grave error on my part,” he said. He insisted he would continue fighting and working until his last breath, and criticized the priest’s stance, which he said was affirmed by an email from the Diocese stating that the doctrine was clear.
The Diocese of Segovia indicated it would not comment on the matter until a new bishop was formally appointed, reported El Nuevo Día.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
