Regards, Ivan
Posted on 06/17/2005 3:48:26 PM PDT by MadIvan
CARDINALS and archbishops will lead a protest march in Madrid today against the legalisation of gay marriage in the biggest challenge yet by the Roman Catholic Church in Spain to the Socialist Government.
Twenty senior bishops will join up to 500,000 Catholic campaigners on the march against the law which will come into force this month.
Under the legislation, Spain will become the third country in Europe to legalise gay marriage and adoption, after Belgium and the Netherlands.
The demonstration, organised by the Spanish Forum for the Family, will be the first time that the Church has openly backed a protest march against an elected government, breaking a strict ecclesiastical rule. It will be a new low in the deteriorating relationship with the administration of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Prime Minister, over social reforms.
A heavy police presence is expected amid fears of clashes with gay activists who plan a counter-demonstration less than a mile from the route of the main march from the Plaza Cibeles to the Puerta del Sol, near a concert by Carlinhos Brown, the Brazilian singer.
When Señor Zapatero’s Government passed the gay marriage law in April, it infuriated the Catholic Church, which brands homosexual behaviour “intrinsically bad”.
Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, the Archbishop of Madrid, said: “If it is the State itself which establishes a law which ignores the essence of marriage, then the damage it causes to the true family, to children and society will be incalculable.”
Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, spokesman for the Episcopal Conference, the Spanish Church’s ruling body, said: “We are in a unique situation in the history of humanity. The Catholic Church has never encountered anything similar in its 2,000 years of existence.”
Cardinal Ricard María Carles, former Archbishop of Barcelona, compared obeying gay marriage laws with the process that led to the creation of Nazi death camps.
“If you give obedience to the law priority over obedience to your conscience, that leads to Auschwitz,” he said.
Pope Benedict XVI has criticised the Government for “promoting disdain towards religion”. Señor Zapatero has dismissed the Vatican’s opposition and says that he is fulfilling his election promises. The conservative opposition Popular Party (PP) has aligned itself with the Madrid protest.
Mariano Rajoy, the PP leader, said: “There was no reason, and nobody understands why, Spain had to put itself at the vanguard in these matters. I don’t think that anybody has stopped to think about the children’s interests.”
But Señor Rajoy was unwilling to say if he would join the protest as it could cause a split with gay groups in his own party. He also criticised conservative town mayors who threatened to disobey the law rather than perform gay weddings.
Opinion polls suggest that although 80 per cent of Spaniards consider themselves to be Catholic, most are in favour of homosexual marriage. One poll indicated that most Spaniards thought that the Church was out of touch with society.
Religious education is another issue that has put the Government and the bishops on a collision course. The Government plans to make religious education in state schools voluntary.
In an interview with The Times, the Archbishop of Barcelona, the Most Rev Lluís Martínez Sistach, who is regarded as a moderate, said: “Education cannot be changed according to the political party which governs because this causes problems with children’s education.”
The Church is also preparing to fight to defend its generous state subsidy, which Juan Fern López Aguilar, the Justice Minister, recently described as “unsustainable”.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
So good to see.
Thanks for posting this.
Indeed.
"Opinion polls suggest that although 80 per cent of Spaniards consider themselves to be Catholic, most are in favour of homosexual marriage."
First of all, they need to back this claim up. Polls can say whatever you want them to say depending on how you pose the question. However I do think they are probably right that most in Spain won't be turning against the govt. because of this.
I'm betting that most in Spain are not church-going catholics though, since there's not much point in going to church if you completely ignore the bible. This is really a defining issue for me in determining whether or not somebody's honestly religious. It is a perfect case where one must choose between biblical values and modern trends.
Thank God for gutsy bishops somewhere. We need many more here in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the ones that we have seem to be shrinking violets that wilt whenever light touches them.
The homosexual-pansexual movement along with its cousins in abortion, cloning and euthanasia are the reincarnation of a totalitarian model that passed away in Nazi Germany and the Soviet bloc. If they are not stopped at the legislative level, then we may soon have to make some very uncomfortable choices.
I agree polls in europe are even MORE manipulated than in the USA.
St. Vincent of Saragossa, Protomartyr of Spain, pray for us.
St. Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us.
St. John of the Cross, pray for us.
I agree that biblical values are at stake but you don't even have to go to the Bible to make the argument that Gay marriage is against natural law. The body wasn't designed for this kind of "love." It serves no purpose. Even a couple that cannot concieve has the natural potential to produce life, a gay couple doesn't without the aid of a third individual.
I agree. We also need a few marches in DC or somewhere, hopefully many places, with that kind of turnout!!
Here, 500,000 would get some real attention! Maybe we need a Million Christian March!
later pingout.
This great news! Thanks for posting it.
Nota Bene: the article also mentions that Spain's Gummint is considering "reducing the state support of the Church," which the Spanish Bishops also intend to fight.
Wanna bet that the Gummint came up with the "reduction" idea after Rome put the smackdown on their Queer Marriage legislation?
Corragio!!
I'll back the Church over the Socialists any day.
Completely agree with what you've expressed!
These bishops, and those who are participating with them: I hope it went safely and well for them (haven't yet read any follow-up news).
And, thank God for thier courage and faith. Remarkable statement of purpose and intent by all involved. Spain as government appears to be protecting a certain tourism and seasonal/vacationing home owners and probably also due to the income involved, and denying ethics in the process. Thus, their liberal movement.
We need more press about Spain, is all I can add.
Homosexual Agenda Ping.
Looks good. I hope someone posts pictures of it all. It's so hard to comprehend that Spain has gone so far down the drain as to be the third country in the history of the world to legalize "gay" marriage. I wonder what the people really think about it.
Also note that the Church is apparently trying to keep the government subsidy happening. Government money generally taints everything it touches; then you have to play by their rules.
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