Bloodless Coup

Benedict XVI Opposes Gay Marriage in Spain

That in itself is entirely expected. There are all sorts of things that Prime Minister Zapatero has proposed that have appalled the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Spain. But what struck me about these stories was the following:

He said every profession linked with implementing homosexual marriages should oppose it, even if it meant losing their jobs.

So he'd rather see unemployment and hungry families than gay marriage? I mean it strikes me that this prioritization implies that. It also would seem to raise the stakes in terms of how he will deal with Catholic politicians in the US who carry out policies that the church opposes. Though of course it needn't stop at the politicians. If he's going to advocate getting out of the political system if it means opposing Church preferences ... it would seem conceivable that he'd call on Catholic soldiers in Iraq to leave the service rather than fight in a war the Church opposes.

Posted by armand at April 22, 2005 02:46 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Culture