The archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cardinal Canizares, is currently the subject of a hate crime probe for remarks he made in a homily at Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir May 13.
“The family is being stalked today, in our culture, by endlessly grave difficulties, while it suffers serious attacks, which are hidden from no one,” the Spanish prelate, and former prefect of a major Vatican department, said during his remarks.
“We have legislation contrary to the family, the acts of political and social forces, to which are added movements and acts by the gay empire, by ideologies such as radical feminism, or the most insidious of all, gender ideology,” he added, according to a Thursday report from Crux.
A hate speech complaint was filed with regional authorities by a coalition of LGBT organizations, which was led by a group called Lambda. Spanish law requires that any hate speech complaint formally lodged with the authorities must be investigated.
The governor of Valencia, Ximo Puig, accused Cardinal Canizares of “fomenting hatred.”
“The whole world understands that each person can love whom he wants,” Puig said, according to The Christian Times. Other leftist organizations accused him of “inciting discrimination and hatred,” and longing for “times when immigrants, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and women were subjected to the dictates of a society governed by the powers of the Catholic Church.” (RELATED: Pope Battles Bureaucracy, Sex Abuse In New Order)
Lambda has deployed the “gay empire” concept in a line of Star Wars themed apparel, which includes the cardinal’s likeness under the label “Darth Vader.”
The Spanish Network for Refugees has also called for the cardinal’s prosecution for previous comments that were critical of open borders policies.
In a private letter — obtained by Crux — from Canizares to Puig, the cardinal accused local authorities of censorship, telling the governor he reminded him of Franco, the Spanish strongman who ruled the country for decades and outlawed seditious sermons.
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