They are members of the ‘clerical fachosphere’, the group of priests who use social networks to attack Pope Francis’ reforms, attack any hint of reform in the Church or wish “hell” on those who do not think like them. They have been questioned – with more or less success – in their dioceses, but this has not prevented them from creating their own ‘parallel’ church through the network. Despite their differences, they maintain some points in common. One of them, the rejection of any opening to the LGTBIQ+ group in the Church, and its support for conversion therapies, condemned by Rome and, at least on paper, by the Episcopal Conference.
In fact, they appear together in the complaint filed on December 30 by the Spanish Association against Conversion Therapies and the Ministry of Equality, and which also affects seven dioceses: Barcelona, Madrid (which have publicly distanced themselves from these practices). , Getafe, Sigüenza-Guadalajara, Valencia (whose Archbishopric, when asked by elDiario.es, assures that “it is not in that type of practices”), Alcalá de Henares and Málaga, as well as two institutions: Media Salud Comunicación SL, directed by Marta Sanz Lovaine; and the New Evangelization Foundation for the 21st century, editor of one of the media that shelters them, Religion in Freedom.
Who are they? Neither more nor less than the Argentine priest, and son of the man known as the ‘butcher of Salta’, Javier Olivera Ravasi; who until a few months ago was the Media delegate of the Bishopric of Getafe, Julián Lozano; the priest and influencer from Madrid, Jesús Silva; or the Valencian Juan Andrés Talens, already involved this summer in the complaint against a teacher from Valencia for trying to “cure the homosexuality” of his students, who is also the director of the Secretariat for the Defense of Life of the Archbishopric of Valencia.
Among those involved are also some members of Courage, an institution that defends that homosexuality is a disease and, as such, has a cure. Established in the dioceses of Getafe and Alcalá, it has not yet obtained permission for diocesan action in Madrid. In total, throughout 94 pages of the complaint, at least 13 events organized around the Transformados project in five autonomous communities are indicated.
Some centers, such as Buenafuente del Sistal (Guadalajara), have distanced themselves from the therapies, ensuring that they have not organized anything similar. It is a different matter that they could have been produced in their facilities, without permission having been requested to do so, they argue.
Transformados is defined as an apostolate aimed at “those people with a tendency or attraction towards the same sex who can, through a path of conversion or life change, return to their biological origins,” as detailed in the complaint. . In this sense, Transformados urges the rejection and denial of one’s sexual orientation by considering homosexuality as a result of trauma, confusion, emotional wounds or social pressure from the media and culture.
Julián Lozano is one of the absolute protagonists of the sessions held in Getafe. He has even posted several of the reported ‘talks’ on his YouTube channel. The first of them took place in the Santa Maravillas de Jesús de Getafe parish on June 20, 2023; the second on March 12, 2024 in the Santa María Magdalena de Ciempozuelos church. In statements to the Ser channel, sources from the diocese of Getafe acknowledged the celebration of the two events, but have categorically denied that they were conversion therapies because, for example, “there was no accompaniment.” Furthermore, they assure that “they were only testimonies of approach to the faith of people who were not previously Catholic.” Subsequently, the diocese issued a statement, just one sentence long, in which it “reiterates and underlines its rejection of conversion therapies for homosexual people.”
Lozano has ‘answered’ the complaint in an X thread in which he assures that “two testimonies of conversion” were shared. “It is about a conversion to faith in Christ. There is no talk at all about any type of therapy,” he adds, emphasizing that “two people spoke who experienced same-sex attraction, who lived through multiple homosexual relationships, and whose encounter with Christ ordered their hearts and their entire lives.” The priest concludes by ensuring that he has other similar videos on his YouTube channel because “there is nothing to hide. There is no hate. There is freedom to expose the vision of the Church and the action of God.”
Regarding Juan Andrés Talens, according to the complaint, on June 28, 2023, LGTBIQ pride day, the Parish of San Miguel and San Sebastián of Valencia, of which he is parish priest, hosted an event where two “healed ex-gays” recounted their testimonies before 150 people to affirm that it is possible to “start a sexual orientation conversion therapy based on abstinence and religious practice.” Talens also presented the book of another priest, Óscar García Mulet, Grow like boys, grow like girlswhich justifies all these therapies. A volume prefaced, by the way, by the omnipresent Bishop Munilla.
For his part, the editor of Religion in Freedom, Álex Rosal, published a writing on his website in which he described the complaint as a “nonsense hoax” that “has generated serious defamation” and denied that the conferences include “any type of therapy.”
Saúl Castro, president of No es Terapia and person responsible for the complaint, attended three events organized by Transformados. Two of them in the parish of San Ildefonso in Madrid, and another in Ciempozuelos. “They seemed grotesque to me,” he recalls in conversation with elDiario.es. “You heard an absolutely biased and stigmatic version of what ‘gay life’ would be, as an inherently unhappy existence, marked by sexual violence, drugs and promiscuity, as well as by bad family relationships and social rejection,” explains.
“It seemed horrendous that they used these testimonies to justify that the transformed apostolate of chastity offers an alternative to the life of misfortune and unhappiness that would befall us homosexuals if we live our identity freely and normally,” emphasizes Castro, who shows his concern for the number of attendees, more than a hundred, and the questions that were asked “to the ex-homosexuals involved, about how to help and convince their gay friends to get out of that life.”
Progressive bishops “turn a blind eye”
“Clearly, they were events to recruit victims and promote these religious conversion therapies among them,” says Saúl Castro, who sees it as “normal” that many of the priests involved belong to the ecclesiastical extreme right. “What surprises me is that bishops who are socially seen as more progressive turn a blind eye and do not implement measures to ensure that these events do not take place in their facilities and under their shelter.”
Regarding the statements from Lozano and Religión en Libertad, which “openly acknowledge that they promoted the ‘Transformed’ apostolate but hide behind the fact that it does not promote any conversion therapy because the methods to nullify and modify sexuality do not involve medical or psychological treatments” , Saúl Castro reiterates that the concept ‘conversion therapies’ also includes, according to the United Nations, “religious approaches”, such as those raised in the talks.
In fact, Marta Sanz herself “recognizes that this approach is illegal and that she cannot openly say that they offer support to get out of chastity because if not, in Spain, they will remove the video,” emphasizes the president of No es Terapia, who He shows his confidence that the complaint will have its way because “it is irrefutable that they spread religious conversion therapies based on chastity. It is so irrefutable that, in fact, even some of those accused themselves recognize it.” Despite not being a criminal offense in Spain, the penalties that those accused may face are the closure of commercial companies and their websites, the prohibition of contracting with the administration and fines of between 10,001 and 150,000 euros.
Castro is not alone: last Friday, CRISMHOM, the LGTBI+H Christian collective of Madrid, issued a statement in which it expressed “its complete rejection of any practice that seeks the supposed conversion or reversal of people’s identity or orientation.” LGTBI”, while, “we appreciate and support the work carried out by No esterapia in the defense of our fundamental rights as human beings.” “We pray for all the people who are victims of these situations, and for the conversion of those who are victimizers,” concludes the statement from the LGTBI Christians of Madrid.
All information in www.religiondigital.org
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