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Massive
Rallies
For Papal
Slam At Gays
From the
Web, December 30, 2007
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Vatican City -- Tens of
thousands gathered in Madrid and Vatican City for Catholic rallies promoting
traditional families on Sunday.
Pope Benedict XVI addressed the crowd in St Peter's Square in his last Angelus
prayer of 2007 which was broadcast on a giant TV screen for throngs who had come
to Madrid's Plaza de Colon to hear him.
Many of the faithful at the Madrid rally were bussed to the capital from cities
throughout Spain. Police declined to give a crowd estimate but there were
so many people they spilled out into streets feeding into the square.
The pope spoke from the window of his apartment overlooking St Peter's Square
which was packed.
Benedict spoke in both Italian and Spanish admonishing the faithful to protect
traditional marriage. Spain legalized same-sex marriage in 2005, Italy has
been mulling civil partnership legislation.
In Spanish the Pope said that the family is "based on the unbreakable union of
man and woman and represents the privileged environment where human life is
welcomed and protected from the beginning to its natural end."
The remarks were greeted with a massive cheer in Madrid.
"It is worthwhile to work for the family and marriage because it is worthwhile
to work for the human being, the most precious being created by God," he said.
While the crowd in Madrid was massive it was considerably smaller than in 2005
shortly before the Spanish government enacted same-sex marriage legislation
making the country the third in the European Union to allow gay and lesbian
couples to marry.
At that demonstration police estimated the crowd at 150,000, although the Church
said there were about two-million people.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prime Minister supports civil partnerships, but
legislation has bogged down in Parliament where the right-of-center opposition
has vowed to defeat it.
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