Cardinal Carles: conscience is above the law

Barcelona, Spain, Apr 27, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The Archbishop emeritus of Barcelona, Cardinal Ricard Maria Carles, expressed his support for mayors of Spain’s Partido Popular (Popular Party) who are opposing homosexual “marriages,” because the law cannot be above conscience.

In an interview with TV3, the cardinal drew a parallel between the Spanish government’s intention to require adherence to the law on homosexual unions and the actions by German officials during the World War II.  He explained that the concentration camps were a result in part of the fact that some people thought they should “obey the law before their conscience.”

He noted that Auschwitz was not created by criminals, but people “who believed they had to obey the laws of the Nazi government first instead of their conscience.” 

The cardinal also pointed out that “many surely knew they were going against their conscience, that they were killing people,” but they defended “the law above their conscience and Auschwitz was the result.”

In response to approval of homosexual unions by the Spanish congress, a group of lawyers from the Partido Popular announced they would not accept the new law and would exercise “conscientious objection.”