Agreement in Spain on reform

SPANISH bishops ended a week-long conference on Saturday aimed at redefining the relations between the Church and the State in agreement, but decided against issuing a statement.
The conference was a further step in deciding how best to implement the wide-ranging programme of political and social reform voted for last year by the combined assembly of Spanish priests and bishops.
This included the complete separation of Church and State, a revolutionary decision in the context of Spain where the Church has nearly always been an important pillar of the ruling establishment.
More than half the delegates at the assembly approved a resolution apologising for the Church's role in the Spanish Civil War, during which the present regime came to power.
Church sources said the bishops. representing all Spain, had finally agreed on a threepage document, after rejecting several much longer versions. Even if the document agreed to sweeping changes in the relations between Church and State, in practice the Church was likely to remain part of the machinery of the establishment because the bulk of Church revenue was controlled by the Government.