Popular Culture Review Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2005 | Page 72

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Popular Culture Review
partners to “cats and cockroaches” simply living under the same roof. Lozano,
president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, was complaining
about Spain’s movement toward legalizing same-sex marriages. “One of the
great goals of the culture of death is destruction of the family,” proclaimed the
cardinal. Not being a “prince of the Church,” seeing how loving, committed
same-sex couples constitute a “culture of death” is beyond my comprehension.
Moreover, like many other European nations, Spain is taking further
steps to keep chinch and state separate and thus ensure its sovereignty as an
independent nation. Deputy Justice Minister Luis Lopez Guerra called the
separation “a road map” to correct what he deemed “undeniable advantages”
enjoyed by the Catholic Church. The changes include dropping government
subsidies for Catholic schools and removing the check-off box on Spanish
income tax returns that sends 0.5% of the tax bill to the Catholic Church. No
doubt this loss of privilege and income are also part of the Church’s displeasure
with the new Spanish government.
The Catholic church will also be angry with Ireland where, in late
October 2004, a bipartisan committee met to discuss the need to modernize
Ireland’s family law, including the possibility of granting gay couples rights
similar to those enjoyed by married heterosexual couples. All parties agree that
the Irish constitution, written in 1937, reflects outdated values for the 21st
century. “If you look at the provisions for the family in the constitution, they
were written when women were seen as being tied to the kitchen sink,” said
committee chairman Denis O’Donovan, who confirmed that lawmakers would
“take an objective look” at the possibility of granting legal status to gay couples.
Jan O’Sullivan of the opposition Labour Party said gay couples should have “the
same rights that everyone else has, whether you call it marriage or something
else.” Those sentiments were echoes by Ireland’s prime minister, Bertie Ahem,
a practicing Catholic:
They [same-sex couples and their families] say, ‘We want
more equality and we want to be treated fairer.’ I agree with
that. I totally agree with tha