MORALITY ISN'T CAESAR'S:

A Church-State Schism in Spain: Socialist Leader Backs Policies at Odds With Catholic Doctrine (John Ward Anderson, March 1, 2006, Washington Post)

Shortly after his election in 2004, Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ended a quarter-century of cozy church-state relations by blocking mandatory religious classes in public schools. He then took wider aim, saying his government would relax abortion laws, ease restrictions on divorce, legalize gay marriage and permit gay couples to adopt children.

In response, the archbishop of Madrid called the Spanish capital "a hotbed of sin." Pope John Paul II accused Zapatero of "promoting disdain towards religion" and said the Catholic Church in Spain would never yield "to the temptation to silence it."

Things got particularly nasty when the media joined the fray. A radio station sent reporters into confessionals with hidden microphones and broadcast unsuspecting priests warning against the evils of birth control, homosexuality and surfing the Internet.

Two months ago, a disc jockey from an anti-government, church-owned radio station in Madrid posed as Zapatero and called Bolivia's socialist president-elect, Evo Morales, to congratulate him for joining the Cuban-Venezuelan leftist "axis." Morales fell for the gag, leading to red faces all around.

Spain remains al Qaeda's only victory.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 1, 2006 8:23 AM