Spain's bishops urge united front against same-sex marriage
(Nov. 28, 2012) Spain's Catholic bishops urged political parties to unite against
same-sex marriage, after it was confirmed as legal by the Constitutional Court. "Spanish
legislation on marriage is gravely unjust; it does not protect the parties' right
to be recognized in law as husband and wife, nor the right of children and young people
to be brought up as future husbands and wives, and to enjoy a father and mother in
a stable family," the bishops' conference said after its 5-day plenary assembly in
Madrid concluded Nov. 23 . "We call again on politicians to take responsibility.
Right reason demands everyone act according to conscience and beyond party discipline
in this key area and that no one votes to endorse a law which so badly damages society's
basic structures." The statement follows the Nov. 6 court judgment rejecting legal
challenges to the 2005 law. The bishops said the country was "witnessing the destruction
of marriage by legal means," adding that all politicians should uphold the common
good by changing the law. More than 22,000 same-sex marriages have been recorded
under the law, which was constitutionally challenged after the 2011 election victory
of the People's Party under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The church upholds the traditional
definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. Besides Spain, same-sex marriage
is allowed in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, South Africa and Sweden.