Spanish bishops clarify Pope Leo XIV’s remarks following media reports

"The pope sees that the far right uses believers for its own ends," an anonymous prelate told El País.

The article said that far-right parties in Spain, particularly VOX, have been increasingly more vocal against the Catholic Church and its stance on immigration.

In August, Santiago Abascal, VOX president, criticized the Spanish bishops' conference after it voiced opposition to a local council's measure that would effectively ban Muslims from holding religious events in certain areas.

"Limiting these rights violates the fundamental rights of every human being, and it affects not just one religious group but all religious denominations, as well as non-believers," the bishops said. "Imposing these restrictions on religious grounds constitutes discrimination that cannot exist in democratic societies."

The statement prompted Abascal to accuse the bishops, and in particular Auxiliary Bishop Francisco César García Magán of Toledo, the conference's secretary general, of failing to combat actions that "go against our identity, even against religious freedom, and against the faith" out of fear of losing public funds.

Although the Spanish bishops' conference did not respond to Abascal's criticism, García seemingly responded to Abascal and his party's ideological leanings, lamenting that "we are hearing slogans again that were hurled furiously and vehemently against the Gospel and against the Church and churches in the first third of the 20th century."

Those slogans "are now being uttered by some of the supposed heirs of those who, in that first third of the 20th century, defended the Church, many of them at the price of their blood through martyrdom," the bishop said in a homily during a Mass at Toledo Cathedral in August.

"Some of these supposed ideological heirs are the ones who today launch slogans that should never be heard again in the history of Spain, and much less uttered by self-proclaimed Catholics," he added.

The El País report went on to say that the bishops' recent support of a government plan to regularize the status of half a million unauthorized migrants in the country has only further drawn the ire of far-right groups.

The executive commission of the Spanish bishops' conference said that in their November meeting, the pope "received us with special affection, listened to the interventions of all members of the commission, and encouraged us in the evangelizing commitment in which the Church in Spain is engaged."

"The Holy Father also encouraged us toward communion among all the members and institutions that form the Church," the bishops said.