Madrid, Spain – Making an unusually forceful foray into Spanish politics, the Roman Catholic Church led an enormous march through the streets here Saturday to protest new legislation that would legalize gay marriage.
Priests wearing their collars, nuns in gray habits and adults and children from all over the country converged on Madrid.
They waved placards declaring, “Marriage equals Man and Woman,” and applauded Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, the archbishop of Madrid, who walked near the front of the noisy crowd.
Right-wing politicians also joined the demonstration, which was organized by a coalition of groups called the Spanish Forum for the Family.
The measure is one of numerous social policies that have heightened tensions between the Catholic Church and the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, which came to power just more than a year ago in an upset electoral victory that ended eight years of conservative rule.
