Freedom of speech, religion in play as Spanish priest prosecuted for denouncing radical Islam

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Oct 3, 2025 / 14:23 pm

Freedom of speech and religion in Spain is in play as Father Custodio Ballester faces a possible three-year prison sentence and fines after a trial this week found him guilty of making allegedly “Islamophobic” statements in print and in an interview.

Questioned by CNA about his upcoming sentencing, Ballester said: “The survival of freedom of expression in today’s Spain depends on the ruling in this case. Otherwise, we’ll be headed toward a new Cuban dictatorship. One where you were arrested for what you said as well as for what you thought, if it differed from what [Cuban communist dictator] Fidel Castro decided.”

Ballester and two others, fellow priest Father Jesús Calvo and journalist Armando Robles, were accused of making allegedly Islamophobic statements in complaints filed before Spain’s socialist government by the Association of Spanish Muslims Against Islamophobia. On Oct. 1, those complaints were examined for several hours at the Provincial Court of Málaga.

Ballester told CNA that his “statements have never been discriminatory or hateful,” in reference to an interview he gave in 2017 to online talk show “La Ratonera” and previous writings.

Speaking to the media after exiting the court, the priest said he is calm, adding: “This is the final hearing, and now we are awaiting the result.”

He told CNA: “In the Spanish army’s special forces, we used to say: ‘Prepare for the worst. The easy stuff has already been planned for.’ That’s why I’m calm. If everything goes well, I’ll be even happier.”

The case against Ballester and his co-defendants has sparked considerable debate in Spain and Europe over its perceived threat to free speech and claims that hate-crime laws are selectively applied.

In 2016, Ballester responded to a pastoral letter from Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona. In his answer to Omella, Ballester wrote that dialogue with Islam is “impossible,” despite the prelate’s claim that such dialogue is “necessary.”

The priest wrote: “This renewed revival of Christian-Muslim dialogue, paralyzed by the alleged ‘imprudence’ of the beloved Benedict XVI, is far from a reality. Islam does not allow for dialogue. You either believe or you are an infidel who must be subdued one way or another.”

In 2017, Ballester appeared in an online interview with Robles and Calvo in which the three discussed the threat of radical Islam to Europe. Robles owns the YouTube channel where “La Ratonera” broadcast the interview in question.

A ‘one-way crime’: They only charge Christians, never Muslims

Ballester told CNA: “The prosecution demonstrates with its actions that so-called hate crimes exist to restrict freedom of thought and expression. The Hate Law is legally a ‘blank law,’ or a blank check. Not even the prosecutors themselves know how to define ‘hate.’ They fabricate the crime in each case based on who allegedly committed it, and it’s a one-way crime. They only charge Christians, never Muslims.”

Ballester has been criticized also for his advocacy of Catholic doctrine regarding, for example, homosexuality and procured abortion. Leftist LGBTQ activists have accused him of “homophobia.” He has said that Spanish justice appears to prosecute supposed Islamophobia and homophobia with rigor but looks the other way when Christians are involved. He has also denounced the persecution of Christians in places like Nigeria, Syria, and Bangladesh.

A public advocacy law firm, Abogados Cristianos, has gathered more than 28,000 signatures demanding Ballester’s acquittal. Outside the courtroom in Málaga on Oct. 1, dozens of the priest’s supporters could be seen holding placards demanding his acquittal. Supporters outside the courthouse collected signatures on petitions, which are circulating online. Groups such as HazteOir, the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience, and the Spanish Institute for Social Policy have added their voices to the protests.

Ballester said the threat to free speech is very real. If the court does sentence him to prison, he said he will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

“The ruling from the Málaga Provincial Court could be delayed somewhat. People are very angry about the excessive sentences being sought for ‘hate crimes,’ which are comparable to those sought for sexual assault or leaving someone paralyzed in a fight. Political pressure may delay the ruling,” he said.

The priest was philosophical with regard to a possible prison sentence, reflecting on his military training in special forces. While he never saw combat, he wrote that he experienced everything else, including “training, weapons, hand-to-hand combat, topographical surveys day and night, and obstacle courses,” which forged in him “obedience and resignation in the face of adversity, much more than in the seminary.”

The Spanish Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience quoted its president, María García, expressing her alarm that Ballester is facing prison “simply for warning, in the exercise of his freedom of expression and conscience, about the threat of radical jihadism. Defending religious freedom also means protecting the freedom of those, like Father Custodio, who warn of realities that have already caused deaths in our country and in Europe.”

García recalled that in January 2023, a Muslim jihadist murdered sacristan Diego Valencia and wounded a priest at a church in southern Spain, asking: “Is the crime committed by those who denounce violence or by those who carry it out?”