March 10, 2005
Times
From David Sharrock in Madrid
SPAIN’S political and social transformation after the Madrid bombings, which unseated a conservative government a year ago, continued yesterday when a moderate bishop replaced a hardliner as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ricardo Blázquez, Bishop of Bilbao, was elected president of the bishops’ conference after Antonio María Rouco Varela, his precessor, failed by one vote to win the two-thirds majority needed for a third term.
Mgr Rouco Varela was the Vatican’s preference and has come into conflict repeatedly with the Socialist Government in the past year, during which it has legalised gay marriage, made divorce simpler and eased rules for stem-cell research.
The reform programme has drawn sharp criticism from the Pope, who said that he was concerned about a possible restriction of religious freedom in Spain. The Socialists responded by summoning the Papal Ambassador to voice their surprise.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1518252,00.html