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Spanish Judge Fernando Ferrin Calamita has been suspended for ten years and ordered to return his salary of about 100,000 euros to the government because he delayed a decision to allow a lesbian to adopt her partner’s child. He must also pay the couple more than 5,000 euros in compensation and pay another fine of $700. Calamita was found guilty of obstructing the adoption process when he denied the lesbian’s request to adopt the child while waiting for a report on the impact of same-sex families on children. He was initially suspended for two years from the practice, but the Supreme Court in December 2009 increased the suspension to 10 years. ‘The powerful Spanish homosexual lobby, with the consent or passivity of all the institutions, decided to punish Ferrin and make him an example,’ commented the conservative Spain-based Professionals for Ethics, according to the Catholic News Agency. Pray: for Judge Calamita to be reinstated with his reputation intact. (Job 5:4)
Just one day after a tense debate in Spanish parliament on how to stop political corruption, a leading newspaper published Thursday what it said were handwritten documents detailing 19 years of secretive payments to leaders of the ruling conservative Popular Party. El Pais newspaper said the alleged payments through 2009 - off the party's normal books - went to Mariano Rajoy, a long-time party leader and Spain's prime minister since December 2011, and to numerous other current or former top party officials. The party quickly issued a statement Thursday morning, denying any ‘hidden accounts’ and insisting that all payments to party leaders have been ‘legal and in compliance with tax obligations.’ Thursday evening, hundreds of protesters reacting to the report gathered near the ruling party's headquarters. They were kept back a distance from the building itself by riot police on two ends of a long street.
Pray: against corruption in high places and that justice would reign. (Is.1:4)
More: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/31/world/europe/spain-corruption-scandals/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2
The city council of Alcala adopted a motion banning Bishop Juan Antonia Reig Pla from official city events. The motion answers the bishop's remarks criticizing homosexual lifestyle. The motion, passed on May 15th, bans Bishop Reig Pla from local festivities and calls for him to be moved to another diocese. It was presented by the political group ‘Union, Progress and Democracy’ and was backed by other left-leaning organizations as well as the Spanish Socialist Party. The ruling People’s Party has opposed the motion. The diocesan priests stated: ‘In response to these very grave acts, we express our adherence to the Catholic doctrine taught by our Father and Pastor, Bishop Reig, as well as our support for him and his apostolic ministry, and we invite all to pray for religious freedom, for our Bishop and for those who persecute the Catholic Church.’
Pray: that this ban would be lifted and we would see a return to Spain’s Christian roots. (1Cor.3:11)
Some 70 college students stormed into the chapel of Madrid’s Complutense University on March 10, shouting insults against the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI and priests. Several females from the group stood on the altar, undressed from the waist up. Another female student who was in the chapel praying at the time told the Spanish daily ABC that two of the young women on the altar ‘boasted about their homosexual tendencies.’ The group of students stormed into the chapel with a megaphone and pushed the chaplain out of the way. They proceeded to shout insults against the Catholic Church and her teachings. The group also placed posters in the pews and on the bulletin board at the entrance to the chapel. Another student interviewed by ABC asked, ‘what would have happened had this taken place in a mosque? These people should know that Catholics will never respond to a provocation with another provocation just to defend themselves.’ Pray: that the young would learn respect and God would reveal the truth. (Is.40:5) More:http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue12497.html
At a cemetery in Barcelona, trucks arrived for a court-ordered exhumation. All across Spain, officials are opening the coffins of dead newborn babies to see if there are any human remains inside, many of the coffins were empty. Spain is reeling from one of the worst crimes since World War II. It is known simply as ‘los bebés robados,’ the stolen babies. The sheer scale of it is staggering: perhaps 300,000 Spanish babies have been taken from their mothers at birth and sold on the black market. Beginning during the Franco dictatorship in 1939 and continuing until the 1990s, newborns were stolen from hospitals and trafficked by a network of doctors, nurses, priests, and nuns. The attending nurse would take the newborn from the mother to have to it examined or cleaned. The nurse would return with a dead baby that was kept in a freezer at the hospital as proof that the child had died.
Pray: for God’s forgiveness for all those who perpetrated these crimes and healing for the mothers and children involved. (Tit.3:11)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/October/Spains-Secret-Shame-Baby-Black-Market-Exposed/
Over the years, terrorists have used sports drinks, shoes, and even underwear to hide explosive material. Now, authorities in Spain say three terror suspects were experimenting with ultra-light planes. Spanish authorities believe the terrorists intended to use pleasure craft for far deadlier purposes. They also believe they were linked with al-Qaeda, long known for its obsession with arming aircraft. Today a judge in Spain's National Court will question the suspects and decide whether they'll remain detained. They include a Russian, a Russian of Chechen descent, and a Turk. Authorities arrested the Turk in the southern town of La Linea and picked up the other two in the central town of Ciudad Real.
Pray: for the continued vigilance of the authorities in the face of the variety of ways that terrorists use to attack. (2Tim.4:18)
Tensions have escalated between Spain and Gibraltar over long delays at the border crossing because of increased vehicle searches. The British territory has claimed the recent tough measures on the border by its northern neighbour was because of the creation of an unpopular artificial reef. Some say Spain is blowing this ongoing situation out of proportion to take the voting Spaniard minds of of serious problems closer to home. Prime Minister David Cameron and the Foreign Office have said they are concerned about comments made by Spain's Foreign Minister. Jose Manuel Garcia who has suggested a 50 euro fee for crossing the Spain-Gibraltar border could be imposed. There have also been complaints about excessive border checks causing delays in and out of Spain. The latest tension has flared up around an artificial reef, which Madrid claims is harming their fishermen. The Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar the Rt Rev Ralph Heskett urges people to pray for harmony.
Pray: for wisdom and harmony for the governments as they seek a solution to this situation. (Ex.18:19b)
More: http://www.euronews.com/2013/08/06/spain-and-gibraltar-border-crossing-dispute-continues/
Scores of people have been arrested in Spain and France in a crackdown on a gang smuggling Chinese nationals into Europe and the United States. Spanish police said on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested in Spain, with another 24 arrests were reported in France, following a two-year joint investigation. The bosses of the operation were arrested in Barcelona. The Spanish interior ministry said the gang charged up to $66,700 to transport mainly Chinese and Malaysian nationals to the US, Britain, Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey. Some of the people trafficked ended up in the sex trade, the ministry said. The gang's main European hub was Barcelona airport. It allegedly used the city as a stopping-off point for Chinese while false documents were prepared. A total of 81 false passports from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan were recovered in raids, as well as fake immigration stamps, Chinese and European currencies, and weapons including a handgun.
Pray: for the continued success of the authorities in bringing those to justice who organize such crimes. (Ps.11:7)
More: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/08/201381013145843784.html
The Financial Times reports that the EU's largest data protection authorities have launched a joint action against internet giant Google, in a move to force the company's compliance with EU privacy rules of which it is allegedly in breach. The paper says that the decision is the EU's first coordinated and formal procedure by member states against a single company and highlights growing frustration with Google. The Washington Post reports that Google faces possible fines after six member states - France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands - held meetings with the internet search engine company which yielded ‘no changes’.
Pray: for a just outcome in this action against a multi-national company that believes it has all the rights. (Ecc.5:8)
Serbian Orthodox Christians in Kosovo struggle with a ‘sharp rise’ in threats and vandalism against their churches and other religious sites, human rights investigators told BosNewsLife on Tuesday. During the past month Orthodox Christmas assailants attacked a monastery, set on fire a chapel and wooden crosses, and destroyed over 100 Orthodox tombstones, reported Belgrade-based Balkan rights group Centar 9. The clashes are linked to anger within Kosovo's mainly Muslim Albanian population about the removal of a memorial to fallen fighters in neighbouring Serbia. Thousands of ethnic Albanians protested after some 200 masked Serbian police officers backed by armoured personnel carriers removed the monument last Sunday in the town of Presevo. It bore the names of 27 ethnic Albanian fighters killed during the 2000 conflict in the Presevo Valley, a spill-over from the 1999 war in Kosovo, Serbia's former province.
Pray: that Christians and Muslims will be able to put aside their differences and learn to live together in peace. (Eph.4:3)