[Spanish] Bishops’ Conference: Catholics May Not Vote in Favor of Homosexual “Marriages”

Cadena Cope [Spanish radio station] ^ | May 06, 2005 | Staff

[livius]

After the approval last Friday [in the Spanish Congress] of a law on homosexual unions, the Executive Committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference has issued a notice in which it describes this law as “radically unjust” and calls for clear opposition to it, demanding the right of conscientious objection. The document, entitled “Conscientious Objection to a Radically Unjust Law That Degrades the Institution of Matrimony,” declares: “It is not true that this law expands a right, because the union of persons of the same sex cannot be marriage. This union is in reality a legal counterfeit of matrimony, as damaging to the common good as counterfeit money is to the economy of a country. We are pained to think of the damage this will cause to children who are handed over in adoption to these false marriages, and to young people, for whom it will make difficult or prevent education for genuine marriage.” The notice from the Bishops’ Council reminds Catholics that, “like all persons who have correct moral formation, they cannot be indecisive or permissive with respect to this law, but they must oppose it in a clear and decisive form. Specifically, they cannot vote in favor of this law and on the application of a law that has no power to morally obligate anyone…”

[livius]

The Spanish bishops seem very determined to draw the line on this. I hope they follow it up with firm action, because Spaniards have gotten used to ignoring the bishops over the years. Like American bishops, the Spanish bishops stopped teaching about moral issues and got into drivel about nuclear war and giving .07% to developing nations - and people quit listening to them. All of the Socialists, some of whom still refer to themselves as Catholics, are going to vote for this, so it will be interesting to see if the Spanish bishops actually take action after the final Senate vote (sometime in the next couple of weeks).

[wk4bush2004]

Spain is morally falling apart.

[livius]

Bishops exhibiting backbone ping. They haven't said they'll excommunicate pols who vote for this measure, but they are at least telling them straight out NOT to vote for it.

[livius]

I think Spain morally fell apart some time ago, it's just that it now has a government bound and determined to wipe out every vestige of Christianity.

[NeoCaveman]

Spain is morally falling apart.

Spain fell apart in under their Republic of the 30's. Since then it had been held together by very flimsy adhesives and it looks like the adhesives broke and they are back to their pre-Franco republican ways.

[Question Liberal Authority]

How do the Spanish feel about voting for more terrorism?

[murphE]

like all persons who have correct moral formation,...

Key words here are "[having] correct moral formation", and if this were more common among people, this worldwide legal endorsement of sodomy would not be happening.

[livius]

Absolutely. I think one of the reasons the Spanish bishops added this phrase, btw, is to encourage the support of Orthodox Jews and even Muslims in Spain who are opposed to this law, but represent such a tiny percentage of the population that they would have no effect alone. There are even some secular humanists who are not in favor of it, but in their case, their loyalty to the Socialist Party is so great that they would not oppose it.

[livius]

Actually, there's some feeling that Zapatero's agressive attacks on the Church may backfire and make people who kept out of the fray or didn't even care suddenly sit up and take notice - and start opposing him. That might be too much to expect, but we'll see.

[Question Liberal Authority]

there's some feeling that Zapatero's agressive attacks on the Church may backfire and make people who kept out of the fray or didn't even care suddenly sit up and take notice

That makes sense. You don't have to be a big churchgoer to be turned off by zealous anti-religion bigotry.

The left is always yammering on about how you have to be compassionate to the downtrodden and the poor. Yet when they run across an institution that's actually been doling out compassion for 2,000 years the first thing they want to do is destroy it.

[te lucis]

This is the same Spanish Bishops conference that endorsed condom use a few months ago.

[murphE]

Speaking of "[having] correct moral formation", the saying physician heal thyself comes to mind.

[livius]

Actually, they didn't endorse condom use. I was in Spain when this happened and followed the story. One of their representatives (not even a bishop, IIRC) had been in a meeting with somebody in the government, and reporters ran up to him right after the meeting with this question. He was responding to a question on the attitude of the government, but it came out as if he was stating the position of the Church. As soon as the headlines broke, the bishops corrected it - but the damage had been done. The positive side of this is that, for once, Rome did not seem to be napping, and actually asked them to explain themselves and then to publicly clarify the situation, which they did.

That said, Spain is full of accomodationist left-wing clergy (the same kind we have in the US - Jesuits, elderly 1968 "revolutionaries," etc.) who would be only too happy to go along with anything the government does. But this was not the case here, and the bishops's conference never endorsed condom use, wishful thinking of the left to the contrary.

[te lucis]

Thanks for the info. I never saw a follow-up or clarification regarding that story.