At the initiative of José Andrés Calderón, a young Spanish law student, hundreds of Catholics have been gathering daily at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Crowds assembled outside the church throughout November and continue to grow in tandem with the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Advent season. In at least 50 other Spanish cities on Dec. 8, Catholics also assembled to pray the rosary.
On Nov. 28, Calderón was arrested by police and fined. He remarked that Spain’s government has made it illegal to pray both near the church and the DATOR abortuary, also located in Madrid. Calderón told ACIPrensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that Catholics should “not be afraid to worship God and venerate his most pure Mother.”
Calderón said that since Christian Lawyers was founded in 2008, matters have worsened.
“Abortion is more radical, euthanasia is more radical; Catholics are constantly attacked,” he said. “Bombs were thrown at a church; priests and nuns have been assaulted … when we were insulted or offended, or when our crosses were wrecked, we said nothing. It’s because we didn’t say anything that we’re now in this situation,” he emphasized.
Castellanos said her firm has presented at least 100 cases before courts to defend religious liberty and Catholic monuments. She fears for the future of her four daughters, including a 10-month-old, and that Spain may soon resemble Cuba or Venezuela.
“That’s why I do this. It’s my duty to leave a better world to my daughters. The first thing my husband and I do is teach them to try to make the world a better place. It is our parental duty that, when we are no longer here, they live in a world that respects human life and family, with the understanding that a family is that formed by one man and one woman; where Spain’s history, Christian roots, and heritage are respected, and that we’re not persecuted simply for being Catholic,” Castellanos said.