The President of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, has highlighted that the creation of the Mixed Cooperation Commission between the Generalitat and the dioceses of Valencia, Orihuela-Alicante, Segorbe-Castellón and Tortosa will allow “deepening cooperation and collaboration” between both institutions .
This was stated in the act of establishing this collegiate body which, according to Puig, “reflects the attitude of constant dialogue” of both parties with the shared objective of continuing to work for the “common good” of citizens.
The head of the Consell has insisted that the new commission allows “strengthening the dialogue”, and has thanked the work carried out by Cardinal Antonio Cañizares for launching this initiative, as well as his “willingness to agree, through dialogue and from respect”.
For his part, Cardinal Cañizares has expressed that, on the part of the Valencian Church, “we will always be willing to collaborate and seek agreements. If all the Autonomous Communities had a commission like this, many problems would be avoided at this time. It is an advance and a sign of the future”.
The event was also attended by the Vice President and Minister for Equality and Inclusive Policies, Aitana Mas; the Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo; the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Raquel Tamarit, and the Minister of Universal Health and Public Health, Miguel Mínguez.
The Mixed Cooperation Commission is configured as an instrument for advice and consultation on the protection of cultural heritage, teaching and education, healthcare in hospital centers of the Valencian Health System and social assistance. For this reason, it will have four delegate commissions in matters of cultural heritage, education and teaching, health and social services.
Regarding cultural heritage, the commission will report on the protection, conservation, promotion and dissemination of Valencian cultural heritage in matters that exclusively affect property owned by the Catholic Church that have cultural value, as well as the establishment of the bases for the use of these assets of a scientific or artistic nature.
Within the framework of the public educational centers of the Generalitat, the Church will offer advice so that the students who wish to receive the teaching of the Catholic religion, as well as the teaching of the Catholic religion in said centers and the provision of religion teachers that is necessary.
Regarding health, the commission will advise on the establishment of protocols to guarantee religious assistance to citizens who profess the Catholic religion and who are hospitalized in hospitals dependent on the Generalitat.
In relation to social assistance, advice will be given on procedures and methodologies to guarantee, within the framework of the Law on Inclusive Social Services of the Valencian Community, the provision of social services by the institutions of the Catholic Church that provide them.
The commission will be made up of ten people appointed by both cooperating institutions and is attached to the Presidency of the Generalitat. In addition, it will be structured in a plenary session, with a presidency that will correspond to the person holding the presidency of the Generalitat, a vice-presidency that will be exercised by the Archbishop of Valencia and eight members.
These committees are also joint, so four will be occupied by the heads of the ministries responsible for education, cultural heritage, health and social services, and the remaining four on behalf of the Catholic Church, exercised by the Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, the Bishop of Segorbe-Castellón, the Bishop of Tortosa and the Vicar General-Moderator of the Curia of the Diocese of Valencia.
