Spain’s Bill Nears Passage
Saturday, April 23, 2005
(SNN Barcelona) A new bill, or Guillermo, has passed the lower house of the Spanish Parliament today. The bill would allow gay couples to marry and even adopt. The bill has been highly criticized by the Catholic Church.
The bill passed the house with a 183-136 vote, with six abstentions. Representatives of gay and lesbian groups cheered from the chamber's public. "This is a great and historic day… of freedom and equality," said Pedro Zerolo, a leader of Spain's homosexual rights group.
Despite the jubilation of the gay and lesbian community, some people are not so happy. Last year Pope Benedict XVI - then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - had declared that gay marriages in Spain would destroy the family and society. Although, Spain is traditionally seen as a Catholic country, recent polls show the church losing support. Polls say nearly half of the country's Roman Catholics almost never go to Mass and a third say they are simply not religious.
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo bitterly criticized the reform which will give gay marriages the right to adopt children. He described the right to adopt as "the most absurd and negative aspect" of the reform bill, comparing a homosexual adoption to pedophilia, a subject which the Catholic Church has studied closely.
There is no guarantee that children reared in homosexual families will be happy.
Also, according to Cardinal Trujillo there is no guarantee that children reared in homosexual families will be happy. However, the socialist government foresaw this problem and put a provision in the law that will force gay parents to take their children to Euro Disney at least once every three years.
The Cardinal concluded by saying that perhaps it was a time for Spain to deeply reflect over who they should trust to run their government, the Church or their elected representatives.
