HAVING BEATEN THE LINCOLN BRIGADES CAN THEY BEAT THE LOG CABIN BRIGADES?:

Church Leads Protest in Spain: The Catholic hierarchy takes on the Socialists in power as priests and nuns march with at least 200,000 against a bill to legalize gay marriage. (Tracy Wilkinson and Michael Moffett, June 19, 2005, LA Times)

Making an unusually forceful foray into Spanish politics, the Roman Catholic Church led an enormous march through the streets of Madrid on Saturday to protest legislation that would legalize marriage for gay couples.

Priests wearing their collars, nuns in gray habits and adults and children from all over the country converged on downtown Madrid. They waved placards declaring, "Marriage = Man and Woman," and applauded Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, the archbishop of Madrid, who walked near the front of the noisy crowd.

"This demonstration is not a reaction. It is not against anyone. We've come to say yes to the family unit as composed by man and woman," said Jesus Sanz, the bishop of Huesca, who traveled five hours by bus to reach the rally.

Right-wing politicians also joined the demonstration, which was organized by a coalition called the Forum for the Family. It was the most coordinated protest to date against the agenda of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The gay marriage measure is one of several social policies that have heightened tensions between the Catholic Church and Zapatero's government, which came to power a year ago in an upset electoral victory that ended eight years of conservative rule.

Zapatero also plans to relax restrictions on abortion, divorce and stem cell research. And he has focused on the church itself, which receives public funding in Spain. His government has proposed reducing the church's budget and extending financial benefits to other religions.

Individual priests and bishops in Spain have at times spoken out against violence by Basque separatists and on other issues, but Saturday marked the first time in more than two decades that the Catholic hierarchy mobilized people to take to the streets — and joined them. In 1983, the church similarly fought an earlier Socialist government's decision to legalize abortion.

Some on the left bemoaned what they saw as a flashback to the days of longtime dictator Francisco Franco, who outlawed homosexuality.

They stopped the Left from destroying Spain once, doubtful they can do it again.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 19, 2005 7:49 PM