Church in the World

Spanish premier berated before the shrine of St James

Europe

Mounting church-state tensions in Spain were laid bare last Sunday when the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela used a televised Mass attended by Spain?s Prime Minister to attack the Government?s support for same-sex marriages.

During the Mass to commemorate the feast day of St James on 25 July, Archbishop Juli?n Barrio said that the proposals of the Socialist Government to give homosexuals the right to marry would ?erode society?. He also asserted the Church?s right to speak out against social policies with which it strongly disagrees.

In the traditional annual ceremony in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, King Juan Carlos and the new Spanish premier, Jos? Luis Rodr?guez Zapatero, joined a large congregation to honour the patron saint of Spain.

The remains of St James the Apostle are thought to lie in the crypt of the Romanesque cathedral. For more than a thousand years they have drawn pilgrims from across Europe.

During the section in the archbishop?s homily where he criticised the Government?s pro-gay legislation, TV cameras picked out Zapatero sitting in the congregation. The Prime Minister looked rattled and angry.

?Marriage is fundamentally heterosexual and the base of the family; its erosion means the erosion of society itself, making it vulnerable to interests that do not serve the common good,? the archbishop said.

His words closely echoed the document released by the Spanish Bishops? Conference the week before. The bishops reiterated church teaching that marriage should only take place between a man and a woman, and called on Catholic MPs to reject the legalisation of same-sex unions which will soon come before the Spanish parliament.

?The State cannot recognise a right that is non-existent?and which will, without doubt, damage the common good,? the bishops? document declared.

At the end of June, Zapatero?s Socialist Government presented a draft bill before the Spanish parliament to allow gay marriages. Government sources say that with the Socialists? respectable majority in parliament, the bill could become law by next year.

Many of Spain?s devolved regions have passed laws that equalise the tax and inheritance rights of homosexual couples with those of married couples, but without offering the option of marriage.

So far the Socialists? position on the far more controversial question of whether homosexuals should be allowed to adopt children has remained ambiguous. However, minority left-wing parties, who support Zapatero?s informal coalition, have spoken in favour of gay adoption, while the opposition Conservatives are firmly opposed.

The Government has meanwhile been quick to reject the bishops? stance on the proposed legislation.

?Spain is not governed from the pulpit,? a government spokesman told journalists shortly after Archbishop Barrio had delivered his sermon in Compostela.

The leader of the minority party United Left, Gaspar Llamazares, responded to the sermon by condemning the Church?s ?de-legitimisation? of parliament.

The current wrangle between the bishops and the government over social policy began with the surprise victory of Zapatero?s Socialist Party in the March general election, reflecting long-held antagonisms between the Church and the Spanish Left.

Some 66 per cent of Spaniards support the right of homosexuals to marry, with 26 per cent opposed, according to a recent poll. It also showed that 79 per cent of Spaniards regard themselves as Catholic, 12 per cent as agnostic, and 6 per cent as atheist.
Julius Purcell, Barcelona