Posted on 04/22/2005 4:08:23 PM PDT by traumer
Pope Benedict XVI has responded firmly to the first challenge of his papacy by condemning a Spanish government bill allowing marriage between homosexuals.
The bill, passed by parliament's Socialist-dominated lower house, also allows gay couples to adopt.
A senior Vatican official described the bill - which is likely to become law within a few months - as iniquitous.
He said Roman Catholic officials should be prepared to lose their jobs rather than co-operate with the law.
The bill would make Spain the first European country to allow homosexual people to marry and adopt children.
Belgium and the Netherlands only allow same-sex marriages. It is also a dramatic step in the rapid secularisation of what was once one of the most devoutly Roman Catholic countries in Europe.
The head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council on the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, denounced the legislation as profoundly iniquitous.
Secular state
Interviewed in the Italian newspaper, Corriere de la Serra, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said the Church was making an urgent call for freedom of conscience for Roman Catholics and appealing to them to resist the law.
He said every profession linked with implementing homosexual marriages should oppose it, even if it meant losing their jobs.
The cardinal insisted that just because something was made law it did not make it right.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office a year ago making it clear he intended to remove what he called the church's undeniable advantages and make Spain a secular state.
There are likely to be further tensions with Pope Benedict XVI. Mr Zapatero has made it clear that he intends to streamline divorce law and even to relax the conditions placed on abortion.
I like the new Pope already !!
Ping
The Socialist religion's main tenets: the destruction of the family, and the sacrifice of unborn children to the god of convenience.
It is also a dramatic step in the rapid secularisation of what was once one of the most devoutly Roman Catholic countries in Europe....
Now rapidly descending to islam - and eventually to Hell
Didn't have to read much more about that bill. This is the Spanish equivalent to "our" DemoncRAT party. And, just like their counterparts in Spain, "ours" would love to copy that bill here.
Is it okay to say "atta-boy" to the Pope...or do you say "atta-Pope"?
Well, France is definitely headed in that direction, but Spain is less than 1.5% Muslim. Not sure what that has to do with this, though, since the Islamists would be more likely to behead gays than to marry them..
----He said Roman Catholic officials should be prepared to lose their jobs rather than co-operate with the law.---
This is what I would expect of the Holy Father. One moves towards God or towards Self. The decision is in constant flux, but the Light remains the Light.
Frank
It's typical for socialist countries to replace god with the state and then self destruct. I hope the spanish people will be energized and fight this moral disese.
Who are the homosexuals in the Spanish government?
(No irreverence is intended. God Bless the Holy Father and this sacred mission for Truth!)
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Understood! God Bless ANY REAL CONSERVATIVE in my book!
Me too! And I'm not even Catholic! ;)
Iniquitous! I love it.
wow, who would have thought a Pope would support his church/bible views?
No wonder the Dims are afraid of him!
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