The Public Ministry of Spain opened an investigation against Bishop José Ignacio Munilla for alleged crimes of “hate speech” and “discrimination”, following statements he made last year on a radio station in Madrid. On the occasion, the religious man criticized the law that prohibits psychologists from offering support to people who are attracted to the same sex when this support could be interpreted as “conversion therapy”, a practice prohibited by Spanish legislation.
According to a document to which the EFE agency had access, the procedure was opened after the progressive platform Your people and mine filed a complaint classifying the bishop’s statements as “homophobic”. As the contested statement took place in Madrid, the case fell under the jurisdiction of the capital’s Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
In a publication on the X network, Munilla stated that the process “obviously has no legal basis” and accused the complainants of trying to intimidate the Church.
“Obviously, this has no legal basis and only seeks to frighten the Church so that it does not dare to announce the Good News of Christian love, trying to impose on society a ‘state anthropology’ based on the so-called ‘gender-LGBTI theory’”, he wrote.
Munilla also highlighted that he has not received any official communication from the Prosecutor’s Office and assessed that there is “more media interest than judicial interest” in the case. He also denied having made attacks aimed at the LGBTI public.
“It is completely false that I have directed any criticism at LGBTI groups,” he said.
In the same post, the bishop expanded his criticism of Spanish legislation.
“It is ironic that those who defend the freedom to change sex – hormones and surgeries included – prohibit homosexuals from freely requesting what they describe as ‘conversion therapy,’” he wrote.
The religious reiterated that the Church will continue to offer spiritual guidance to anyone seeking this type of support.
“We will not stop accompanying people with homosexual inclinations who freely ask us for spiritual help to live in chastity,” he stated.
The ongoing investigation seeks to determine whether Munilla’s statements could constitute hate speech or a violation of dignity under the Spanish Penal Code.
