Spanish Dioceses Cancel Anti and Pro LGBTQ+ Programs

The president of Spain’s Catholic bishops conference has publicly rejected so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ people, saying the church does not support it and that such therapies are “not within the scope of its pastoral action.” Archbishop Luis Argüello made these statements in a meeting with Spain’s governmental Minister of Equality, responding to recent scrutiny the church has faced for its attitude toward LGBTQ+ people.

Archbishop Luis Argüello

Government minister Ana Redondo met with Argüello to discuss accusations that several Catholic dioceses in Spain offered workshops or courses on “sexual conversion for LGBTQI+ people.” 

Responding to advocacy by queer advocates, the Diocese of Cuenca cancelled a planned training for its priests offered by Courage International, a Catholic group that states its “pastoral work excludes behavioral therapy of any kind and in any form,” and that it encourages gay and lesbian people to practice chastity.

Bishop Jose Ignacio Munilla, of  the Orihuela-Alicante Diocese and host of a radio program added some confusing assertions to the conversation about Courage and “conversion therapy.” He has publicly questioned, “If one has the right to take hormones or undergo surgery, why shouldn’t one also have the right to undergo psychological therapy to reverse one’s homosexuality?” Despite this blatant support for conversion therapy, Munilla has insisted that Courage International’s ministry is simply “providing pastoral care to people with homosexual tendencies and helping them practice the virtue of chastity.” 

In the Diocese of Huelva, a local parish canceled a course for homosexual and unmarried couples. The course, modeled after the parish’s marriage preparation program, would have prepared both straight and LGTBQ+ couples to receive blessings in accordance with the 2023 Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans. A catechist involved in the initiative told the press that the vicar general was initially supportive of the idea, but later cancelled it when the course drew publicity. 

In addition to addressing questions about conversion therapy, the meeting between Argüello and Redondo also covered the admission of LGBTQ+ people to communion. This topic became a national controversy when a local parish in the diocese of Segovia denied communion to the town’s openly gay mayor. Argüello denied that this decision was discriminatory, “since the basic norm for receiving communion, which is to be in the grace of God, affects all Catholics equally, regardless of any other condition, including sexual orientation.”

While LGBTQ+ Catholics and their allies will welcome Argüello’s disavowal of conversion therapies, the leaders of the Spanish Catholic Church must go further to prevent LGBTQ+ discrimination. Shutting down programs addressing LGBTQ+ realities in a misguided attempt to stop bad publicity, as seen in the diocese of Cuenca and Huelva, is not the solution. Instead, the bishops must foster a pastoral environment that speaks to LGBTQ+ members of the community with care and inclusion.

—Ariell Wastson Simon, New Ways Ministry, March 20, 2025