Spanish conservatives rally to the Church

Thousands of Spaniards assembled in the center of Madrid on December 30 to signal their support of the traditional family. According to one count, more than 1.5 million attended the assembly and a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela at Plaza Colón. The assembly, which was organized by the Archdiocese of Madrid and Catholic leaders such as Spanish painter and religious figure Kiko Arguello, was also addressed by Pope Benedict XVI via video link. Other estimates placed the number of those attending the rally at 160,000.

While the rally was not explicitly partisan, nonetheless it comes just two months before general elections that could decide the fate of the current Socialist government which has legalized homosexual marriage and further eased restrictions on divorce. Some of the speakers assailed Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who currently leads in opinion polls over the opposition Popular Party led by Mariano Rajoy. Spain goes to the electoral polls on March 9; on March 11, 2004, a series of bombs ripped through Madrid’s commuter trains just three days before a general election that swung to the left and placed Rodríguez Zapatero in power.

Referring to traditional marriage, Pope Benedict said about traditional marriage via videolink “Founded in the indissoluble union between man and woman, it is the place in which human life is sheltered and protected from its beginning until its natural end". The pope also spoke of the right of parents to educate them in their faith. The event at Plaza Colón also included prayers recited by the multitude, as well as a procession of the revered statue of Our Lady of Almudena, patroness of the archbishopric’s cathedral church.

Kiko Arguello, one of the founders of the Neo-cathecumenal Way – a world-wide Catholic evangelical organization – said to the crowds "These atheist, irreligious governments want to make us believe that our life has no meaning and that isn't true". Arguello, a multi-media artist who studied under Pablo Picasso, sang from the stage accompanied by his guitar. A song-writer too, Arguello has composed numerous hymns and songs that are used in Catholic churches world-wide but especially in liturgies organized by his Neo-cathecumenal Way.

The sharpest political criticism came from the prelate of Valencia, Bishop Agustín García-Gasco, who warned against attacks against the family during the current Socialist government “by that road the Constitution of 1978 is not being respected and that leads towards the dissolution of democracy”. Bishop García-Gasco also said that the Spanish government’s policies “led to a loss of hope through abortion, quickie divorce, and ideologies that aim at manipulating the education of young people”.

The Socialist government and the Church have battled this year over curriculum that would be mandated for all publicly-supported schools that have lessons contrary to Catholic doctrine about sexuality and procreation. Archbishop Antonio Cañizares of Toledo, for his part, said that these times “are not easy for the family” because “it is being shaken to its foundations by iniquitous and injust legislation”. More than 50 cardinals, bishops, and leaders of religious movements attended the rally. García-Gasco: "El laicismo radical lleva a la disolución de la democracia"

Spain is now one of the most liberal countries in Europe, where church attendance has sharply dropped off in the three decades since the death of dictator Francisco Franco. Subsequent governments relaxed restrictions on the press, for example, and Spain followed the van of Europe and North America in a social revolution that included increased abortions, divorce, dropping fertility rates, and increase