The organization was sanctioned for not incorporating gender ideology criteria into its projects
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The European Commission made the decision to fully exclude the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) from all community funding lines after evaluating that the projects submitted by the entity "lack gender diversity" and do not meet the "equality" criteria established by the European Union.
The unprecedented measure directly impacts the only family NGO of Christian inspiration with institutional presence in Brussels and has provoked strong rejection from governments and Members of the European Parliament who accuse the European Executive of exercising openly ideological discrimination.
According to FAFCE itself, the six projects the organization had submitted in the call, including one dedicated exclusively to the digital education of minors, were penalized with a 30% reduction in the total score for not incorporating "diverse gender perspectives" or additional "non-discrimination" mechanisms, requirements that arise from the ideological parameters applied by the Commission.
Ursula von der Leyen, presidente de la Comisión Europea.
The president of the entity denounced that the decision constitutes "a political punishment against an entity that has spent decades promoting dialogue and defending the dignity of every person from the centrality of the family".
Reactions to the measure
Just hours after the resolution became known, representatives of the Patriots for Europe parliamentary group and Hungarian government authorities spoke out against it.
Member of the European Parliament Kinga Gál, vice president of the bloc, was one of the most forceful voices, describing the decision as "the highest form of discrimination based on gender ideology" and stating that Brussels is punishing FAFCE "simply for defending the family as the essential core of society". She even warned that, in the current political climate, "in Brussels, defending the family is already considered a crime".
Una familia con el fallecido Papa Francisco.
Hungarian commissioner Bernadett Petri reinforced that assessment and stated that the measure demonstrates "to what extent Brussels has abandoned the values on which Europe was built".
She emphasized that neither the European Union nor its institutional predecessors were created on "radical leftist ideologies", but rather on a conception of the person and the community linked to the Christian legacy of the continent. "FAFCE's 'crime' is to embrace that heritage and defend the Christian family", she stated.
The immediate financial impact is significant. FAFCE anticipates that, if it doesn't receive support in the short term, it will have to cut activities in 2026, reduce its presence in community debates, lay off staff, and halt projects essential to its mission. The entity estimates that it needs 150,000 euros to sustain the initiatives already underway.
FAFCE's exclusion reflects a punishment for ideological reasons that seeks to marginalize Christian entities from European political dialogue, imposing criteria that, according to their complaints, make all organizations that do not align with the dominant leftist gender agenda in the European Union suspect.
