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May 2006- Vatican City- Pope Benedict XVI told the new Spanish
ambassador to the Vatican May 20 that family based on marriage should
not be “replaced or confused” by other institutions an allusion to
Spain’s decision to marry same-sex couples.
Benedict said he hoped his planned visit to Valencia, Spain, in July to
attend a church gathering dedicated to families would give him “an
opportunity to celebrate the beauty and fecundity of the family based on
marriage, its very high calling and its essential social value.” The
pope has been leading a church campaign in defense of traditional
families. He also reiterated church opposition to abortion and
euthanasia.
Ambassador Francisco Vazquez described the meeting as “cordial and
affectionate.” Ties between the Vatican and Spain have been strained
since Spain’s Socialists took office in 2004 with an agenda that
included legalizing gay marriage and making it easier for Spaniards to
obtain divorce in the traditionally Roman Catholic country. In April, a
senior Vatican official, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, condemned a
Spanish bill authorizing gay adoptions.
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