The power of the Catholic Church.

So the PSOE electoral manifesto is not going to include this time around any mention to abortion, euthanasia or the State-Catholic Church Pact of 1979.

I can understand the reasoning behind this decission, though not share it. The continuous attacks by the Catholic Church and the bishops' radio station, COPE, against the Government have fuelled protests by PP voters and right-wing groups. Gay marriages and adoption as well as the non-sense attack against the new subject in primary education 'citizens' education' have proven difficult rides for PSOE during this term and taken away the support of Catholic working class groups.

The decission is oriented to prevent the Church to become an active part of the electoral campaign by rallying its 'troops' and hurting PSOE with the Catholic vote in key areas like the Basque Country and Andalucia. However I believe it is time to take the Catholic Church on and prove to them that Spanish people are ready to remove the few privileges they still enjoy rooted in Franco's legacy.

The Catholic Church still has the right to provide a Catholic education subject in public schools, with an alternative provided for non-religious students, and benefits from limited Government funding payed by all taxpayers, including non-Catholics. PSOE has to show the strength needed to remove these privileges and remove all relations between the State and the Church, only this way we will be able to remove their ability to exert such a demagogic influence in the political arena. It is public money which is funding the Church's activities which do not anymore concern helping the needed but rather to consistently attack the left in perfect harmony with PP. Until we do not bang the fist on the table the 'Catholic electoral problem' for PSOE will never go away.
It will be hard but PSOE is the only party able to finalise what was started in 1979, the complete separation between Church and State in Spain.
The decission to duck the problem is not just ideologically wrong it is also electorally wrong because the problem will come back in 2012 while I have to keep paying taxes for the bishops for another 4 years.