Pope rips Spanish laws on gays, divorce

Pope Benedict XVI strongly defended traditional families and the rights of the unborn yesterday, directly attacking Spanish laws that allow gay marriage, fast-track divorce, and easier access to abortions as he dedicated Barcelona's basilica, the Sagrada Familia.

It was the second time in as many days that Benedict had criticized the policies of Spain's Socialist government and called for Europe as a whole to rediscover Christian teachings and apply them to everyday life.

As he headed to the basilica, about 200 gays and lesbians staged a kiss-in to protest his visit and church policies that consider homosexual acts intrinsically disordered. Later, a few hundred women marched to protest their second-class status in the church and the Vatican's opposition to birth control.

But in contrast, some 250,000 people came out to cheer the pope and watch as he formally inaugurated Barcelona's newest basilica, an architectural marvel still unfinished after more than 100 years of construction.

Benedict spoke out against same-sex marriage and divorce, saying families are built on the "indissoluble love of a man and a woman" who should be provided with financial and social benefits from governments.

He criticized policies allowing for abortions, saying "the life of children (must) be defended as sacred and inviolable from the moment of their conception."

(Published by The Boston Globe - November 8, 2010)