Spanish cardinal criticises gay marriage

Spain's leading Roman Catholic Churchman yesterday attacked Madrid's decision to legalise gay marriages in an address to Pope Benedict, saying the law showed that society was losing its bearings.

In his address, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rauco Varela of Madrid, leading a group of Spanish pilgrims, said: "Not only is faith negated but also human reason itself, as one can see in the recent legislation on matrimony and the family."

In his own address the Pope made no mention of the law, which came into force over the weekend.

The Pope, who last month condemned gay marriage as fake and an expression of "anarchic freedom", used only general terms, urging the pilgrims to remain united in spreading the Gospel message throughout society.

The law, which took effect on Sunday, makes Spain only the fourth country in the world to have legalised same-sex marriages after the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada.

It gives same-sex unions the same status as heterosexual ones, including adoption and inheritance rights.