On Saturday, Pope Benedict lamented the end of fascist rule in Spain
that kept the Catholic Church’s religious beliefs codified, and the
Catholic Church running much of the nation as a lapdog for Franco.
Benedict was concerned about the anti-clerical nature of Spain of late
and noted that the church believes that some 4,184 clergy were killed by
the Republicans of Spain which did not like the fact that the Church
was helping to get and keep General Francisco Franco in power.
The
Catholic Church had special relationships with several fascist dictators
including Benito Mussolini in Italy.
Benedict prayed at Santiago de Compostela, which is suppose to hold the tomb of St. James the Apostle.
Spain has changed greatly, and under Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez, same-sex marriage, fast-track divorce and abortions have
become legal.
Benedict stated “In Spain, a strong, aggressive lay
mentality, an anticlericalism and secularization has been born as we
experienced in the 1930’s. For the future of the faith, it is this
meeting — not a confrontation but a meeting — between faith and lay
mentality that has a central point in Spanish culture.”
Benedict continued to try and revive the notion of a non-secular
Catholic Europe in the same vein as it was before the Reformation.
He
stated in one speech “A Spain and Europe concerned not only with
people’s material needs but also with their moral and social, spiritual
and religious needs, since all these are genuine requirements of our
common humanity.”
Not everyone was thrilled to see the Pope in Spain. Riot police
fought with anti-papal protesters in Santiago, and LGBT groups lined the
motorcade route on Saturday where they kissed at the popemobile drove
past.
A similar, but larger, ‘kiss-in’ will happen in Barcelona where
many lesbians and gays plan to protest the Pope’s stances against
homosexuality.
In fact, Benedict reiterated his belief that marriage
was between a man and a woman and not two people of the same sex.
Of
course, implicit in this is that marriage is also where men are held to
be superior to women.
The royal family has been taking care of protocol with the Pope’s
visit.
Crown Prince Felipe greeted Benedict at Santiago’s airport.
Prime Minister Zapatero will meet with Benedict only as he is leaving
the country.
SIC: LEZGET/INT'L