A Catholic priest in Spain has been found guilty of “Islamophobic” remarks and faces up to three years in jail.
Father Custodio Ballester was charged after questioning Cardinal Juan José Omella’s 2016 assertion that inter-faith dialogue with Islam was “necessary”.
In a letter, Fr Ballester wrote: “This renewed revival of Christian-Muslim dialogue, paralyzed by the alleged ‘imprudence’ of the beloved Benedict XVI, is far from a reality. Islam does not allow for dialogue. You either believe or you are an infidel who must be subdued one way or another.”
In 2017 Fr Ballester also suggested on YouTube that Islam poses a threat to Europe.
In response, the Association of Spanish Muslims Against Islamophobia brought a case against the priest.
Speaking to the Catholic News Agency, Fr Ballester said, “The survival of freedom of expression in today’s Spain depends on the ruling in this case.
"Otherwise, we’ll be headed toward a new Cuban dictatorship. One where you were arrested for what you said as well as for what you thought, if it differed from what [Cuban communist dictator] Fidel Castro decided.”
Fr Ballester’s sentence has yet to be announced but may include fines and even a custodial sentence of up to three years.
Ballester said he would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if he is sent to prison.
As well as a petition with over 28,000 signatories, Ballester appears to have received some support from Spanish president, María García.
The Spanish Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience quoted the president as expressing concern that Ballaster was prosecuted “simply for warning, in the exercise of his freedom of expression and conscience, about the threat of radical jihadism".
"Defending religious freedom also means protecting the freedom of those, like Father Custodio, who warn of realities that have already caused deaths in our country and in Europe," she was quoted as saying.
She also cited the case of a Jihadist who murdered a sacristan and wounded a priest at a Spanish church in January 2023: “Is the crime committed by those who denounce violence or by those who carry it out?”
