By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
MADRID, January 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Tens of thousands of people crowded into Madrid's Plaza de Lima to attend an open air mass on December 27 celebrating the values of life, family, and faith, according to Spanish and English language media sources.
Pope Benedict XVI also gave a televised address to the crowd, which was projected onto several large screens.
The pope emphasized the importance of the institution of the family, which is increasingly threatened in Spain by homosexualist policies, including “gay marriage” and pro-homosexual indoctrination of children in the nation's schools, known as “Education for Citizenship and Human Rights” (EpC).
“God, having come into the world in the heart of a family, shows that this institution is the sure path to find Him and know Him, as well as a permanent call to work for the unity of all through love,” Benedict told the crowd.
“One of the best services that Christians can give to others is to offer them our serene and firm testimony of the family founded on the marriage of one man and one woman.”
“In effect, the family is the best school where those values are learned that dignify the person and make all peoples great,” the pope also said. “Sadness and joy are also shared within it, everyone feeling protected by the affection that reigns in the home by the mere fact that they are members of the same family.”
Madrid's Cardinal Archbishop Antonio María Rouco Varela, spoke out in defense of the right to life, which is threatened by legislation recently approved by the Spanish Chamber of Deputies. The legislation allows abortion on demand during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and mandates pro-abortion education in the nation's schools. It will now be debated by the nation's Senate.
“The death of an innocent can never be legitimized,” said Rouco Valera.
Following the mass, the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals, and Bisexuals issued a statement to Cardinal Rouco Valera, accusing him of conspiring against “the richness of family diversity and the importance of its recognition and no discrimination.”
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual attractions are intrinsically disordered, and that homosexual sexual behavior is intrinsically evil.
Related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Spanish Bishops: Politicians Who Vote for Anti-Life Law are not to Receive Communion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/nov/09112707.html
Massive Pro-Life March in Madrid Attracts Hundreds of Thousands
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09101908.html