Pope Begins Journey to Strengthen Spain’s Catholic Church

|PIC1|Pope Benedict XVI has travelled to Spain today to take part in a gathering on family values.

Arriving in Valencia, the head of the Roman Catholic Church is hoping that his visit will give strength to the Catholic Church in Spain, which has been very much pushed to the sidelines by the new liberal Spanish government.

Continuous reform has angered the Spanish Catholic Church, including the liberalisation of legislation on gay marriage, as well as abortion.

The Pope was met at the airport by King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and will later pray at the site of Spain’s worst underground train crash, which killed 42 people this week.

The friends and family of victims of the crash, which took place at Valencia’s Jesus subway station, will have the chance to meet the Pope.

Monday’s accident occurred when a train derailed as it entered the station travelling at twice its normal speed of 40km/h (25mph).

|AD|In anticipation of Pope Benedict’s visit, Valencia, in eastern Spain, has draped itself in banners bearing the letter "V" for Vatican.

On Sunday it is expected that approximately one million people will attend an open-air mass being celebrated by the Pope in a park.

The Pope’s visit will just be a two-day affair, and is only his third trip abroad since his election 14 months ago. It comes one year since the Spanish government legalised marriage between homosexuals, instigating a bitter dispute with Spain's Roman Catholic bishops.

During his visit, the Pope will attend the 5th World Meeting of Families to defend “marriage as the heritage of humanity,” according to the Vatican. It is also scheduled for him to hold talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Zapatero, whose government recognised the rights of same-sex couples.

However, it has been reported that Mr Zapatero will not attend Sunday's mass, according to Spanish officials.