Several Spanish Catholic bishops will join a march on Saturday as an "exceptional" measure against the government's plans to legalise gay marriage, a Church spokesman this evening.
The march in Madrid by the "Forum of the Family" against the Socialist government's plans to grant gay unions the same status as heterosexual marriage will be the first time Spanish bishops have protested a specific piece of legislation.
"We are facing a unique historical situation and hence the special behaviour of the bishops," Juan Antonio Martinez, spokesman for the bishops' conference, told Coperadio.
He said individual bishops had participated in protests against armed Basque separatist group Eta but the explicit backing from the Spanish Church for the march was an "exceptional episcopal conduct".
Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco, the archbishop of Madrid, and Antonio Canizares, the archbishop of Toledo and deputy head of the bishops' conference, are among the senior churchmen due to join the protest, media said.
"The legislation is a real threat to marriage, and therefore to the family and...society," Canizares told Antena3television. But the protest appeared to sow differences among top clergy.
"I favour consensus and dialogue, seeking solutions rather than confrontation, and therefore I will not take part in the demonstration," Nicolas Castellanos, Bishop Emeritus of Palencia, told a news conference.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's liberal social agenda, including loosening divorce laws, has raised tensions with the powerful Catholic Church. The opposition Popular Party has also backed the march and opposes equal status for gay marriage.
A bill to legalise gay marriage passed Spain's lower house of parliament in April but has still to be backed by the Senate.