Madrid, Spain — The Spanish deputy prime minister held talks with senior Vatican officials on the eve of a major march headed by Spanish bishops against the Socialist government's educational reforms.
Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega spoke to the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.
The meeting came at the request of the Spanish government just a day before the demonstration planned for Saturday in Madrid against the government’s new Education Law.
However, official statements said that the demonstration was not discussed and the meeting only looked at the relationship between the two states.
Meanwhile, the opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) accused the government of trying to divert attention from the march and the effects of the new law on Spanish education.
Ana Pastor, PP spokeswoman on social affairs, said the Socialist government was trying to undermine the freedom of parents to chose in the education system.
She said the meeting of Fernández de la Vega with senior Vatican figures and talks with teachers' unions were "cynical" and "hypocritical" moves to deflect opposition.
The Spanish Roman Catholic Church claims the reforms will undermine religious instruction in primary and secondary schools.
Catholic family groups and the PP are to join the march at which one million protestors are expected.
Madrid's archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela will lead bishops and cardinals.
But the Spanish Episcopal Conference has not confirmed how many bishops will join the demonstration.
The Church opposes government plans to convert religious studies into a non-compulsory subject and to offer other alternatives to students like 'civic studies'.
Isidro Catela, spokesman for the Episcopal Conference, said: "We're not marching against a democratic government, in this case a Socialist one, although we wish to express our legitimate discrepancies and that is a citizen's right."
Left-wing students also oppose the new reforms because they feel religion should have no place in schools.
They staged national marches on Tuesday, protesting at concessions to the Church over the reforms.
They also claim the government should give more cash to public education.
The government has tried to put a brave face on the opposition, saying protest from both sides was an example of the "balance" which the law aimed to achieve.
The Socialist party also said religious studies teachers will not be made redundant once the reforms become law.