Spain's Cardinal Cobo says no party can claim to be 'the Christian vote'

Cardinal José Cobo, archbishop of Madrid and vice president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Spain's counterpart of the USCCB, said on Saturday, January 24, that "no party can claim to say: 'We are the Christian vote.'" He was speaking five weeks before Spain's elections, at the 47th National Conference of Lay Apostolate Delegates, the diocesan officials responsible for lay ministry. Cristina Sánchez Aguilar, editor of the Spanish Catholic publication Alfa y Omega, led the conversation, which drew more than 120 people in person and more than 1,250 registrations to follow online, under the theme "A Church that walks with humanity."

Cobo encouraged believers to talk about their vote with other Christians, including those who choose different parties, and to base that decision on the complexity of society as a whole rather than on their own interests or their group's. In a society as polarized as Spain's, he said, it is a "prophetic provocation" that people with opposing political convictions can look each other in the eye and talk with respect. The commitment does not end at the ballot box, he said: voting also means continuously assessing the decisions of elected representatives.

Risks for Christian public presence

Cobo pointed to two specific dangers: closed settings where only like-minded voices are heard, and what he called the "culture war," which turns society into an adversary and ties faith to particular political positions. He also warned against repeating formulas from the past and against adapting in a way that dilutes Christian identity. The underlying obstacle, he said, is making faith subordinate to ideology, taking from the Gospel only what confirms one's own convictions.

Instead, he called for a formation of conscience grounded in prayer, in knowing Jesus Christ and in the humility to accept correction. That process, he said, requires community, deliberation and responsibility for the consequences of the decisions taken. Listing the values a democracy needs, Cobo named human dignity, respect for life, welcome for migrants, the family, work, the separation of powers and institutional checks.

A method for changing society

His whole talk started from a question a young person asked in a Christian group: "Are your groups transforming society?" That, Cobo said, is "the great question" the social doctrine of the Church has to answer. As a method he proposed an updated version of see-judge-act: understand what is happening, ask why it is happening and work out together what can be done. It starts from the Gospel and from the most vulnerable, with human dignity as the reference point, and reviews the results afterward.

Cobo questioned measuring Christian commitment by the hours spent on parish activities. "Family life, professional life, life as a citizen are places of vocation," he said, so raising children, taking part in family associations or taking on responsibilities in the neighborhood are also part of the lay mission. He described synodality as an "antivirus to individualism" and said he regretted that people inside the Church reduce Caritas to nothing more than an NGO.

Work, technology and housing

On employment, Cobo asked whether work is treated as a disposable commodity or as an expression of the dignity of the person. He called for giving workers a voice and for examining how the benefits of technology are shared. He questioned whether company profit should be the final criterion and whether its returns should go only to those who provide capital. "Workers are contributing their lives," he said.

On artificial intelligence, he recalled that the document Magnifica humanitas sets the protection of each person as the guiding criterion. He asked who controls the technology, what it is used for and who benefits from it, and he called for transparency and attention to those who suffer its effects. Against a culture centered on success and results, he defended the value of limits, fragility and care.

On housing, Cobo referred to the protests in Puerta del Sol, the central square in Madrid, and asked: "Has anyone listened to them?" He said there is "an outcry, regardless of where it comes from" and that it has to be addressed: "We have to listen to them, not label them." Having a home where people can build their lives and start a family is, he said, a requirement of human dignity. He introduced the idea of "political charity": helping one specific person also means acting on the structural conditions that keep others in the same situation.

The Church as a bridge

The Church, he said, is called to "set the table": to make encounters possible, including between leaders of different parties, and to build networks where people can listen to one another. Against those who profit from polarization, he pointed to communities able to rebuild bonds with a word that is "disarmed and disarming." He called for a Christian presence in culture, politics, the economy and the professions, while respecting the autonomy of those fields. He also said those who take on political responsibilities should be cared for and supported.

The conference is part of the formation program on "Public Presence" that began with the 2020 Congress of the Laity. It worked on four areas: the common good as the horizon of political action; drawing up proposals to tackle poverty; involvement in the local area and neighborhood associations; and encouraging ecological commitment in Christian communities. The program also included a cultural session on sacred art, a Sunday talk titled Aquí y ahora: Sinodalidad y compromiso en la vida pública (Here and now: Synodality and commitment in public life), and a presentation on the process for members of the Lay Advisory Council. Raúl Tinajero Ramírez, director of the Commission for Laity, Family and Life, closed the meeting.