[narses]

When equally Catholic Belgium legalized gay marriage and adoptions, the Vatican, under Pope John Paul II, opposed the action with words. But Pope Benedict XVI, in the first policy test of his papacy, is going much further.

Viva il Papa!

[TalBlack]

"I had never heard of such a direct call to civil disobedience."

Well, that is because humanisim will ALWAYS go too far. It is currently in the process of crossing 'too far'.

[ChicagoHebrew]

Just wondering, why should the Catholic Church care about whether or not Spain legalizes gay marriage. The Catholic Church doesn't recognize civil marriage anyway. In the Catholic Church's eyes, if you ain't married according to Catholic rite, you ain't married.

So why should some clerk lose their job for acknowledging that , under Spanish law (but not Catholic law), two men be married.

[iconoclast]

We live in interesting times.

Long, strong life to Benedict XVI.

[goldstategop]

The Church could stand to lose half or more of its members and be healthier for it. You're going to get rid of the deadwood - the CINOs who stand in the way of the Church's vital and survival. Who needs a bunch of secularists and liberals who pretend to be Catholic but subvert the Church from within? Good riddance! This is exactly what the Left fears in a smaller and purer Church and let's all hope Pope Benedict has the gumption to get the job done.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[delacoert]

Said a history professor at a Spanish university, "I had never heard of such a direct call to civil disobedience."

Unidentified source misreprepresenting the facts. Refusing to issue licenses or process paperwork etc. does not break the law. You might lose your job, but it's not against the law. Since it's not breaking the law it's not civil disobeience.

[SuziQ]

It may be easier under Roman Catholicism, with its ancient—and unbiblical—teaching that the church has temporal authority over the state.

I don't know that this is true. The Vatican is simply telling folks INDIVIDUALLY to defy the laws because they are counter to what God, through Scripture, has taught, and what is held sacred in Church teaching.

[TAdams8591]

"American evangelicals, for all of their political activism, have not gone so far as to tell file clerks in Massachusetts to misplace the marriage records of gay couples, or a worker in an adoption agency to lose the application of homosexuals."

The Cardinal didn't say they should lose the paperwork, but that they should not process it and good for him!

[hosepipe]

This Pope may be a sheep dog / wolfhound.. If he still has teeth.. RCC wolves will run for the hills.. Same number of sheep as always, less wolves.. Whats not to like..

[potlatch]

Pope ping!

[montag813]

Benedict ROCKS! He needs to topple secular tyrants as Zapatero like JPII helped Reagan topple Communist tyrants in Eastern Europe.