Evangelical representatives in Spain have criticised the “active, public and devout participation of the Head of State, Felipe VI, in a Catholic religious event”.

King Philip VI was the guest of honour of a worship service to venerate the ‘Jesus of Medinaceli’ image in a basilica in Madrid on 1 March.

In an official communication, the Royal Household said that “for more than 300 years, the Royal Family has made this tradition visible, in which one of its members goes to the Basilica of Our Father Jesus of Medinaceli, on the first Friday of March, to venerate his image”.

A wrong message of religious favouritism

This tradition is a reminiscence of old “discrimination” and “favouritism” that should have disappeared in Spain’s fifty-years-old democracy, said the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE), the organisation in charge of representing evangelical churches before the state.

FEREDE considers that the active participation of the Head of State “to kiss the feet of a religious figure in a temple dedicated to worship, in which the Hymn of Spain is also played” sends a message “to all citizens that takes us back to times in our past history, of intolerance and religious fundamentalism, the memory of which still causes pain to the minorities who suffered them”.

The role of the head of state in non-denominational Spain

FEREDE expressed “respect for the personal beliefs that the King may profess” but considers that his participation in this type of religious events violates the neutrality of a public official.

Ferede laments the damage that is caused “every time a public official, in any sphere or at any level in the Administration, forgets that Spain, according to our Constitution, is a non-denominational State and that, by extension, his office must at all times express this non-denominational character, avoiding having a leading role in liturgical acts or offering preferential or exclusive treatment to a particular confession”.

Evangelical Christians expect respect of the head of state “for all citizens who profess and profess different religious beliefs, to whom his office represents and owes, without favouritism or discrimination”.

Despite invitations, King has have never attended an evangelical event

Neither Felipe VI nor his father Juan Carlos I “have ever attended an event of the evangelical churches in Spain despite the repeated invitations we have sent them”, the statement recalls.

The evangelical federation adds that “Spanish society is increasingly diverse in religious matters, the Spanish state is non-denominational and, by definition, its institutions are also non-denominational. This includes the Crown, and in particular the King, in whose person, by constitutional mandate, the Head of State is vested”.

The active participation as a worshipper in the veneration of a Roman Catholic figure is therefore an “anachronistic” action which is “far removed from the modern, plural and democratic Spain of which today Spaniards of all beliefs can proudly feel part”.

The need for a “clear protocol”

This is not the first time that evangelical Christians have protested after highly representative figures joined Roman Catholic events.

Both the Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) and Ferede have criticised the official participation of government ministers in Easter processions. After the Covid-19 pandemic, they also protested after the King entrusted all Spaniards to the “protection of the Apostle Santiago”.

For FEREDE, it is time for “a clear and adequate protocol to regulate the participation of public officials in religious acts, as well as the participation of religious figures and personalities in acts of State”, to make sure that such participations reflect “the non-denominational nature of the institutions” that is clearly stated in Spain’s constitution.

The evangelical federation has offered itself to help draw up this protocol, which it considers a necessary step in order to reform “Spain’s young democracy” and advance in the “unfinished process” of religious transition”.