The Spanish government and the Catholic hierarchy have clashed publicly following comments by Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), calling for an election due to gridlock in parliament.

In an interview with newspaper La Vanguardia published Sunday, Argüello repeated his comments from this summer that the lack of support for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government in parliament means that nothing can get done.

“The situation is even more deadlocked than in July, with a legislature without a budget. So I reiterate what I said in July: a vote of confidence, a motion of no confidence, or giving the people a voice. In other words, what the Constitution provides for,” the archbishop said.

The gridlock exists because the summer 2023 elections were inconclusive, and despite his Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) finishing second to the conservative Popular Party (PP), Sánchez formed a precarious coalition reliant on a cross-party selection of regionalist groups, not all of which are left-leaning.

Sánchez responded to Argüello’s comments at a rally Sunday evening, dismissing the prelate’s intervention as unwelcome meddling.

“The time when bishops interfered in politics ended when democracy began in this country,” Sánchez stated.

Referring to the three choices that the archbishop proposed in his interview, Sánchez suggested that there was a fourth available. “Respect the election results, even if you don’t like them,” he said.

“It is certainly curious, because when the right wing governs they do not call for early elections, nor for a motion of censure or a motion of confidence; on the contrary, what they want is for the four years mandated by the Constitution for the duration of a legislature to be respected,” the socialist leader added.

Sánchez finished his comments with a broadside against Archbishop Argüello, telling him he should run for election.

“I encourage the president of the Episcopal Conference to do the following: if he wants to run in an election, there’s the far-right association Christian Lawyers, let him run and see what result he gets,” he told his supporters.

Other ministers join the criticism

Sánchez was not alone in his criticism of Argüello, with Deputy Prime Minister María Jesús Montero also weighing in.

“As a woman of the progressive Church, I ask the president of the Episcopal Conference to renounce the ‘let him who can do, do’ mentality,” she said.

Félix Bolaños García, minister of the presidency, justice and relations with the Cortes, had already written a letter over the summer to the archbishop, stating his displeasure at his comments at that time.

“The time when bishops intervened in the politics of our country ended with the dictatorship. We ask the Episcopal Conference for political neutrality and that they tone down a bit their fondness for PP–Vox,” Bolaños wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He also wrote an open letter to the president of the CEE, in which he asked the archbishop “to refrain from breaking your neutrality and to act with respect toward democracy and the government.”

The Church responds

The archbishop Joan Planellas of Tarragona offered muted support for Archbishop Argüello, agreeing with his analysis that there was a deadlock that needed to be addressed.

But he said “we in the Church must be very careful about saying that new elections are necessary” saying that, following the teachings of Gaudium et Spes and the Second Vatican Council, “the Church cannot identify itself with any specific political option and is not bound to any political system.”

“It is perfectly legitimate for a Christian to say what Archbishop Argüello has said, but I would be very prudent in making these statements in the name of the Church or in the name of the various pastors of the Church,” he added.

Argüello responded to the comments from Sánchez and ministers from PSOE, writing on X that on certain political matters he will not stay neutral.

“In the face of respect for life and its dignity, the understanding and support for the family in housing and education, the welcoming of immigrants, service to the poor, religious and conscientious freedom, and respect for the basic rules of the rule of law, I am not neutral,” he wrote.

The X account of the CEE also responded to the storm.

“The very fact that the media ask the Church for its opinion on current events disproves that the Church should be an absent agent from public life and social opinion. Being a member of the Church does not prevent one from opining on public life nor from giving interviews,” the account said.

Separately, Sánchez’s government has been under pressure amid corruption investigations and sexual harassment complaints against party members, including cases that have led to the resignation of senior party officials.