Rafael Catalá praises the Spanish model of cooperation with religious faiths, which is an international benchmark in this field

Since the Constitutional Law on Religious Freedom was enacted in 1980, with a broad consensus in Parliament, our country has managed to consolidate a model that is exemplary in the way it handles religious freedom. This law has led to the creation of a number of extremely useful tools, such as the Registry of Religious Organisations and the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom, as well as cooperation agreements including those that are being commemorated today, between the State and those religious faiths with strong roots in our country.

Present at this commemoration were groups representing the religious faiths that signed the agreement: the Federation of Evangelical Religious Organisations of Spain, the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain and the Islamic Commission of Spain. In his speech at the event, Rafael Catalá referred to the significant progress that has been achieved over the last 25 years.

Examples of this from the point of view of State legislation are the recognition of the validity of marriages celebrated under rites different from those of the Catholic Church, and the integration of ministers of the different faiths into the Social Security system under the category of employees.

Also recognised over these years has been the right of these faiths to provide religious guidance and comfort in the Armed Forces, hospitals and prisons, as well as the right to access the public media; and the recognition of some advantages and exemptions in fiscal and tax matters similar to those obtained by the Catholic Church.

The Minister for Justice took stock of the milestones related to these issues since nearly 40 years ago Article 16.1 of our Constitution recognised religious freedom as a fundamental right, as well as proclaiming the secularity of the State in Article 16.3.

Rafael Catalá also highlighted the role of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, created in 2004 within the structure of the Ministry for Justice. Since then the Foundation has paid 35 million euros in subsidies to promote specific actions or projects by Jewish, Muslim and Evangelical faiths, focused on consolidating and integrating them in society and extending the knowledge and visible impact of their reality.

Non official translation