Catholic Church vs. PSOE Government In Spain

An article posted on Wednesday on the World Socialist Web Site says that the Catholic Church in Spain is using its network of family organizations, Concapa, in a campaign to oust the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) government and return the right-wing Popular Party to power. The Church particularly objects to PSOE's policies on education under which Catholic families will retain the right to choose a religious education for their children, but it will be optional. The Church is also opposed to a proposal to allow Islamic clerics to teach religion in schools. Before the Popular Party was defeated in March 2004, it had proposed the Organic Law of Educational Quality (LOCE). LOCE would have reintroduced compulsory religious education for primary and secondary pupils.