SPAIN, THE CHURCH, AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

This article in the "Week in Review" section of today's NYT will be of interest to many MOJ readers.  An excerpt follows.  To read the entire article, click on the link below.

New York Times
June 26, 2005

As Spaniards Lose Their Religion, Church Leaders Struggle to Hold On  

By SAMUEL LOEWENBERG

MADRID — Last weekend the center of this city was virtually shut down by two competing events, each of which drew hundreds of thousands of people. The first was organized with the backing of the Roman Catholic Church and the conservative opposition party to protest government-sponsored legislation that would allow same-sex marriages. Nineteen bishops and a cardinal took part.

The second event was a concert by the Brazilian samba star Carlinhos Brown on the Castellana, Madrid's major thoroughfare. It had no overt political message, beyond Mr. Brown's exhortations for personal freedom and mutual respect, which were met with jubilation by the wildly dancing crowd.

If one were to ask which event matched the political winds now blowing in Spain, the outdoor concert would have won hands down.

Religion is rapidly losing strength and influence in politics here. Even though this country was once the global bastion of conservative Catholicism, gay marriage is expected to become legal this month, under the most liberal such law in all of Europe.

This presents a particularly troubling challenge for the Catholic Church, whose new pope, Benedict XVI, has expressed a strong concern about the decline of religious feeling throughout Europe. Northern Europe has a long history of secularism, but southern Europe is now catching up, with the changes in Spain particularly profound, swift and sometimes jarring.
. . .

At the rally, placards argued against legalizing same-sex unions as a threat to the family. But some analysts say Spaniards have been able to run from the church partly because the family here is in fact thriving - and remains a source of emotional support. A high percentage of people under 35 still live with their parents, for example, and large family gatherings are still a normal weekly event.

As acceptance of homosexuality has grown, many Spaniards have considered it more important to assist gay relatives than to listen to church doctrine, said Fernando Vallespín Oña, president of the Center for Sociological Investigation.

"Spaniards' love of their children is deeper than their love for their religion," he said.

[To read the entire article, click here.]
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