By Evangelical Focus. (photo: David Carrero Fernández-Baillo/Unsplash)
“In a free and pluralistic society, citizens should be able to seek spiritual support in accordance with their beliefs, as long as there is no coercion or harm”, evangelicals say in a letter to government.
The Spanish parliament is considering a bill that would amend the penal code to penalise the practice of so-called ‘conversion therapies‘.
According to the draft law, anyone who “applies or practises acts, methods, programmes, techniques or procedures of aversion or conversion, intended to modify, repress, eliminate or deny their sexual orientation, sexual identity or gender expression, affecting their bodily integrity or physical or mental health or seriously undermining their moral integrity”, can be sentenced to prison for between six months and two years.
The bill has sparked a debate within Spanish society on the use of the term ‘conversion therapy‘, raising concerns about the potential criminalisation of legitimate religious activities, such as prayer, spiritual accompaniment, and voluntary pastoral counselling.
FEREDE: “A clear violation of religious freedom”
The Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE) has sent a letter to the Director General of Religious Freedom of the Spanish government, Mercedes Murillo, expressing a “deep concern” about the draft law.
The letter denounces the ambiguity of the term ‘conversion therapy’. For FEREDE, “acts of any nature” in the definition shows a “lack of legal rigour” which could lead to abusive interpretations of the law.
“We agree with the condemnation of any coercive or degrading practice, but we consider it unacceptable to confuse such interventions with free forms of spiritual accompaniment”, says Carolina Bueno, executive secretary of FEREDE.
FEREDE states that its churches do not practise therapies that aim to change people’s sexual orientation, but it defends that “in a free and pluralistic society, citizens should be able to seek spiritual support in accordance with their beliefs, as long as there is no coercion or harm”.
Criminalising such spiritual practices “would be a clear violation of religious freedom”, adds the letter.