The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers has announced this Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against a man who, for nine months, interrupted masses in a parish in Gran Canaria amid shouts, threats, and insults.
In a statement, Christian Lawyers has detailed that these acts are, in their opinion, constitutive of the crimes of interruption of worship, threats, and coercion, understanding that with his conduct, this man not only continuously disturbed religious worship in the parish, but also generated a climate of intimidation, violence, and fear among the parishioners.
This situation began in September of last year in a church in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, and lasted for approximately nine months.
The man's method consisted of entering the parish while mass was being celebrated and, once inside, he would begin to shout and utter insults and threats to those attending the eucharistic celebration.
When asked to cease his behavior and leave the premises, he responded with a hostile attitude, according to the facts reported by Christian Lawyers, and verbally confronted the parish officials and the faithful present.
As these events were repeated for so long, many people who attended mass reported them, which led to an initial police investigation that ended with the arrest of this man in Maspalomas, and the initiation of the corresponding judicial proceedings in the court on duty in San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
Regarding these events, the president of Christian Lawyers, Polonia Castellanos, has denounced that for nine months "dozens of faithful have seen their right to practice their faith freely violated while threats and insults became commonplace".
"It is intolerable that a parish has to live with a situation of continuous harassment. Justice must act firmly and send a clear message: forcibly preventing the exercise of religious freedom will have criminal consequences," she concluded.
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