Church Slams Spanish Legislation to Legalise Gay Marriage

The Spanish government has been brutally attacked by the Roman Catholic Church. Spain’s authorities have said that they expect homosexuals to be able to marry as early as next year. This has angered the Roman Catholics, who have compared this proposal to releasing a virus into their society.

The proposed legislation has highlighted greatly the great weakening of the Church’s power and authority in the West of Europe.

The Socialist government is expected to pass a Bill this Friday allowing same-sex marriages as part of an ambitious agenda of reforms. But the plan for the mainly Roman Catholic country has angered the Church. It had already been left incensed at plans by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to streamline the divorce process and relax abortion laws.

The bill, which will allow same-sex marriage, is expected to be passed by the Spanish cabinet this week. Some Roman Catholic Bishops have said that gay marriages were equivalent to a counterfeit currency.

"It would impose on society a virus, something false, which will have negative consequences for social life," said Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference

The Church has already been left incensed at plans by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to streamline the divorce process and to relax abortion laws.

The Spanish socialist Prime Minister took office in April, intending to remove what he called the Church's undeniable advantages and create a secular state with streamlined divorce and relaxations in abortion law.

Juan Antonio Martinez Camino said the Church had nothing against homosexuals but the union of two people of the same sex was not a marriage.

The Church’s influence on Spain used to be very great, and the country has historically been known as one of the most devout countries in the world. However, the sudden change in the country’s policies and traditions has outraged the Church. The Church’s influence on the Spaniards has declined drastically since the death of General Francisco France in 1975, whose regime was closely linked to the Church. Opinion polls seem to indicate that nearly half of the population of Spain no longer attend mass and almost a third have said they are not religious.

If the Bill is passed by Cabinet, then it will go to the Spanish parliament for a debate and could possibly come into effect as early as next year.