ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 23, 2023 / 18:30 pm (CNA).
The Spanish Christian Lawyers Foundation has filed a complaint against a pro-abortion organization whose activists allegedly harassed the faithful who attended Mass and spray-painted offensive slogans on the walls of the church during a demonstration.
On Sept. 28, during a pro-abortion protest march through the streets of Barcelona, protesters “attacked the parish of Santa María del Remei, (St. Mary of the Remedy) in the Las Corts neighborhood,” according to a statement posted Oct. 17 on the organization’s website.
The complaint to the judge specifies that “the attackers reproached the parishioners who attended Mass in addition to painting graffiti with statements such as [piece of] ‘trash church you are a dictatorship’ or ‘abuser priests prohibit abortion.’”
According to the lawyers, the organization responsible for the harassment and vandalism was the Association of Sexual and Reproductive Rights.
The Christian Lawyers Foundation also noted that “it’s not the first time that similar acts have occurred at this parish led by these same groups.”
The protestors allegedly held an illegal demonstration with the aggravating factor of discrimination and committed property damage as well as crimes against freedom of conscience and historical patrimony, the organization said.
In the statement, the president of the institution, Polonia Castellanos, said that “it’s inconceivable that in a democratic state believers are not allowed to attend their worship services.”
In addition, she criticized the fact that “attacks on religious freedom always come from the same sectors of the population” and that “this is just one more example of how left-wing governments try to impose their anti-Christian ideology by allowing these attacks on the fundamental rights of all Catholics.”
The same day as the demonstration, the Association of Sexual and Reproductive Rights posted on X a photo of protesters outside the church with the statement: “NOT A STEP BACK, let’s stop the offensive against abortion! We need to go back to the streets, continue to be organized, and with great political clarity to challenge all those agents who cause institutional violence, whether it’s health care, judicial, or police.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
