Religious Support in Spanish Institutions: Armed Forces, Hospitals, Prisons, and Care Facilities
Religious Assistance to the Armed Forces
The principle of reciprocal tradeoffs dictates that in exchange for their services, the Armed Forces have the right to receive religious assistance.
Traditionally, Catholic religious services were provided through an organic integration model, by an ecclesiastical body composed of employed priests with military rank. This changed with Law 17/1989, which created an assistance service applicable to all religious denominations. The legal relationship between the military administration and ministers of worship can be:
- Permanent and indefinite stable service: Access through testing.
- Temporary: Maximum 8 years. Access by signing an agreement between the Administration and Confession.
Agreements with FEREDE, FCI, and ICE provide religious support to the armed forces comparable to that of the Catholic Church, including:
- Free access for ministers of religion to military facilities.
- Freedom of output to places of worship nearby.
- Adequacy of food for Muslims, according to Islamic religious precepts.
Religious Assistance in Hospitals
Catholic religious assistance is provided under Article 4 of AJ and regulated by agreements between state and church authorities, most importantly the Framework Agreement of July 24, 1985:
- Religious assistance service in public hospitals.
- Priests are appointed by hospital authorities upon nomination by the Bishop.
- Legal relationship of the priest to the Administration:
- The priest works for the Administration, which acts as the employer.
- An agreement between the diocese and the hospital owner: the Administration pays the cost of this assistance to the Bishop and the priest.
Religious assistance for other religions is carried out through free access. Ministers of worship from FEREDE, FCI, and ICE must be approved by the hospital. Costs are borne by their own confession, unless there is an agreement with the state, as is the case with ICE.
Religious Assistance in Prisons
The foundation is the principle of compensation: by depriving individuals of their right to free movement, religious assistance is provided.
Formerly, Catholic religious services were carried out by a member of the Corps of Chaplains of prisons or, failing that, by a local priest.
Today, Catholic aid is governed by the Agreement of May 20, 1993, which creates a religious assistance service in each prison, separate from site management, headed by priests appointed by ecclesiastical authorities and paid based on agreements with the state. The Chaplain Corps is now defunct.
For other confessions, assistance is regulated similarly to that in hospitals, under Article 9 of the respective agreements, using the formula of free access.
Religious Assistance in Institutional Care
In health care institutions (care of children, the homeless, drug addicts, etc.), the best way to ensure religious support is through a relationship agreement.
However, the Chaplain Corps of the Charity remains for the Catholic religion, and the right of believers of other faiths is satisfied through free access as specified in Article 9 of their agreements.