Spain Approves Gay Marriage

[Isaac]

Spain's parliament gave initial approval to a law legalizing gay marriage on Thursday in a move likely to rekindle conflict with a Catholic Church that has just elected a new conservative pope.

A packed public gallery erupted in cheers and applause as the speaker announced approval of the Socialist government's proposal, making Spain the third European country to legalize gay marriage.

"It's unfair to be a second-class citizen because of love," Socialist legislator Carmen Monton said. "Spain joins the vanguard of those defending full equality for gays and lesbians."

The proposal, part of a raft of liberal social legislation by the government, has outraged Spain's Catholic church and is unlikely to please Pope Benedict XVI, elected on Tuesday.

The Pope, formerly the Vatican's top doctrinal guardian, has said same-sex unions are destroying the concept of marriage and eroding Europe's social identity.

The bill, passed by 183-136, still needs Senate approval and a final reading in the lower house, but it is widely expected to become law.

However, Spain's top judicial authority has said in a non-binding ruling that gay marriage is unconstitutional, which could encourage a legal challenge.

Only the conservative opposition Popular Party and a Christian democrat party from Catalonia opposed the bill.

Popular Party spokesman Eduardo Zaplana said his party favored equal rights and gay unions for homosexuals. "But it's quite another thing that an ancient institution like marriage, that is fundamental for the organization of society, has to be exactly the same (for homosexuals)," he said.

STREET CELEBRATION

Dozens of activists gathered outside congress to celebrate.

"It's an indescribable emotion," Antonio Poveda, an activist for gay rights group Lambda, said. "I'm going to get married for the sake of activism, for love, and for a question of dignity."

Spain's bishops said in a statement after the vote that legalising gay marriage was "damaging to the common good" and threatened social order.

Gaspar Llamazares, leader of the small United Left coalition, said it was a boon for Spain.

"This is ... an important advance in what we might call the laicism of our country," he told Reuters.

The bill gives same-sex unions the same status as heterosexual ones, including inheritance rights, pensions and the adoption of children.

By a crushing margin, the lower house also approved a bill making divorce quicker and easier and allowing divorced parents to share children's custody.

Senior churchmen have criticized Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's liberal agenda, which also includes easing abortion restrictions and permitting stem cell research, but the moves are popular among young Spaniards, fewer than a fifth of whom are practising Catholics.

Zapatero, who insists relations with the church are good, said on Thursday he would respect Pope Benedict's views.

"If the new pope says something, I'm prepared to respect what he says," he told a news conference.

During the 1939 to 1975 Catholic dictatorship of Francisco Franco divorce, homosexuality and abortion were illegal. But since Franco's death the country has adopted some of the most liberal views in Europe and a survey last year showed 70 percent of the country supported gay marriage.

Former Pope John Paul warned Spanish bishops in January that an increasingly secular-minded Spain was moving toward "restriction of religious freedom and even promoting disdain or ignorance of religion."

[BarTopDancer]

GO SPAIN!!!

[Name]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, a reason for Spain to party.........not that they need one

[alphabassettgrrl]

I can learn Spanish.

Honestly, I think of Spain being nearly as Catholic as Italy, and here they go and pass a fabulous law like this. There might be some hope yet.

Gay people don't destroy the "sanctity" of marriage- Britney Spears does. "Let's get married this weekend; we can get it annulled on Monday."

Let's face it- marriage is hardly a sacrament anymore. Spouses are nearly as disposable as paper towels to some people, it seems. Many of us still take it seriously, but sometimes I wonder if we're being outnumbered.

Props to Spain. (Is there a martini glass on this board?)

[Isaac]

The Pope is now fighting the new law

Pope Benedict XVI conferred with cardinals as he sought to put an early stamp on the papacy, but already faced his first test as pontiff over a controversial Spanish vote on gay marriage.

Thanking cardinals for their support, he said he was aware of the intense burden thrust upon him as leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

"I know well the nature of this mission that I was assigned," he said. "It is not about honours, but about service."

The 78-year-old pope, who was applauded when he entered the Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace, asked the prelates for their continuing support.

"Please never let me be deprived of your support," he urged.

"Your spiritual closeness, your wise counsel, and your active cooperation will be for me a gift for which I will always be grateful."

Each cardinal then went up to the pope in turn, knelt, and kissed his hand before exchanging a few words, in images carried by Vatican television.

Earlier Friday, denouncing a bill by Spain's lower house of parliament that would allow homosexuals to marry and adopt children, the cardinal head of the Pontifical Council on the Family said it was the duty of Christians to oppose "iniquitous" laws.

"A law as profoundly iniquitous as this one is not an obligation, it cannot be an obligation," Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

"One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is law."

Spain is a traditionally deeply Catholic country, and King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are due to attend Sunday's inauguration of the pope.

Benedict XVI is a deeply conservative pope who has taken a strong line in the past on gays, calling homosexual orientation a tendency toward "intrinsic moral evil."

His handling of the latest controversy will be scrutinised for clues as to how he intends to drive forward his papacy in a Church also divided over other hot-button issues such as contraception, abortion, divorce and the ordination of women.

The Spanish bill, which is expected to be passed by the Senate upper house after its approval Thursday by lower house deputies, would allow gays to marry as well as adopt children.

Trujillo said that anyone asked to conduct such a ceremony should exercise the same right to conscientious objection as doctors asked to perform abort a foetus.

"This is not a matter of choice: all Christians ... must be prepared to pay the highest price, including the loss of a job," he said.

The new pope, who was elected Tuesday by his 114 cardinal colleagues, will be inaugurated Sunday at a mass expected to draw half a million people and a clutch of world leaders.

They will include a strong delegation out of his native Germany, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Horst Koehler as well as thousands of ordinary Germans now beginning to flock into Rome.

At the mass he will formally receive the insignia of his office, a pallium -- a circular band of fabric with a pendant and decorated with square crosses -- and the Fisherman's Ring with the image of Saint Peter, a disciple of Jesus and the first pope in the Church's 2,000-year history.

On Thursday, Pope Benedict sought to ensure continuity and stability after the 26-year pontificate of his mentor pope John Paul II by confirming the same Vatican team in place.

The Vatican said he confirmed Cardinal Angelo Sodano as secretary of state, effectively his number two, as well as Leonardo Sandri as Sodano's deputy and Giovanni Lajolo as the Vatican's foreign minister.

There is one notable job still vacant though -- his own former position as head of the Vatican's top doctrinal authority.

Also Thursday, Rome's chief rabbi said the new pope had promised to foster dialogue with Jews begun under his predecessor.

Riccardo Di Segni said Pope Benedict sent a message saying he was putting "trust in the help of the Almighty to continue and to strengthen the dialogue and collaboration with the sons and daughters of the Jewish people." The last pope, who died on April 2, won widespread admiration in Israel not only for being the first pontiff to visit a synagogue but also for his work in reconciling the Roman Catholic Church with the Jewish people.

So laws that give people equal rights regardless of their sexuality is wicked and natural feelings of a homosexual nature that those individuals have no control over are automatically evil?

He's been in office for a week and already I have no respect for the Pope.

"One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is law."
I think that says it all.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I wish I could say that his words surprise me.

[BarTopDancer]

It's nice to know that the Pope replaced Bush in being the supreme leader of the world and all countries must bow to his wishes and beliefs now.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

"One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is law."

I agree with this. There are plenty of laws that I think are wrong. Zapp, I'm surprised at you for saying otherwise.

Screw the Pope, I'm happy for Spain.

[wendybeth]

Maybe I misinterpreted his post, but I thought he was being ironic- that the Pope's statement on laws must only apply to secular (civil) law, with Doctrinal law being exempted.

[scaeagles]

I am not Catholic, and am amazed at my constantly coming to his defense. Not in regard to the specific law of Spain (although I completely agree with CP about laws being disagreed with everywhere, and immediately within the context of the subject matter thought of Lawrence vs. Texas), but in wondering what people expected.

He was JP II's right hand man. JP II and Benedict XVI are basically the same theologically. I am not sure why JP II was seemingly exempt to much of the criticism for his doctrinal stances that B XVI is encountering - I was not very aware when I was 10 and JP II became pope - it could be he got the same criticisms. Is it an issue of style over substance? JP II was a likable individual even for those who adamantly disagreed with him, and there is a huge campaign to besmirch B XVI. Now, investigate his nazi past all you want - that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the huge number of stories run with negative opinions of him by the lay people even though it seems he is much more widely accepted than vilified within the Catholic community.

He was elected in the second fastest papal election ever. He must obviously have the respect of the Cardinals.

Now, dislike him all you want. That isn't what my post is about. I'm just wondering why huge differences in doctrinal stance were expected in his first week as pope.