Spanish Bishops Calls for Consensus among Political Candidates for Protection of the Family

Madrid, Spain, Oct 22, 2003 / 22:00 pm

The Spanish Bishops Conference has called on politicians who are preparing for the coming general elections to work for the defense of the family and to reject proposals to change the definition of marriage.

The secretary of the Conference’s Subcommittee for Family and Life Issues, Inocente García de Andrés, called on candidates to make a political commitment to defend the traditional concept of marriage and the family and to prevent the legalization of homosexual unions from becoming an issue in the elections.

García reiterated Church teaching on cohabitation and homosexual unions, emphasizing that they are not equivalent to marriage and that “society will have to realize everything that is at risk if the well-being of the family is not protected.”  

He also denounced homosexual activist movements that have declared their intent to do away with the traditional concept of marriage and the family.

García considered “opportunistic” the support of the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and the United Left Party for a socialist city council member in Madrid, Pedro Zerolo, who has presented a request to the Civil Registry to contract marriage with his “partner” Jesús Santos.

The PSOE, he added, is seeking to differentiate itself from the Popular Party with pseudo-progressive proposals that attack the dignity of the person and human life. 

García expressed the necessity to reach an agreement between the different political parties to avoid allowing these issues to become part of the agenda for the coming elections.