Spanish prosecutors have opened an investigation into newly chosen Spanish Cardinal Fernando Sebastian Aguilar after a gay-rights group accused him of hate speech for calling homosexuality a “defect”.
The public prosecutor for the southern province of Malaga, Juan Carlos Lopez, said he had opened a preliminary inquiry “to clarify whether the allegations constitute a criminal offence,” according to a document obtained Wednesday by AFP.

Sebastian, who is close to Pope Francis, is one of 19 new cardinals chosen by the pontiff last month to be officially appointed on February 22.

A week after being picked, the 84-year-old archbishop emeritus of Pamplona gave an interview to a Malaga newspaper that drew condemnation from gay-rights activists.