Spanish King and Queen meet Pope Benedict XVI

Sep 6, 2005, 13:45 GMT

Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia met with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (05.09.05) just weeks after passing a gay marriage law bitterly opposed by the Roman Catholic Church.

The royal couple met with the new pontiff at the Vatican's summer residence in the Alban hills, south of Rome.

Vatican Television showed his holiness greeting the king and queen and exchanging gifts before sitting and chatting with them at his desk.

Spain, where Roman Catholicism is the main religion, on June 30 became the fourth country to legalize gay marriage, following the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada.

The Catholic Church fiercely opposed the new legislation but the law is supported by a majority of political parties in Spain and, according to opinion polls, the general public.

Last June, shortly after Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the gay marriage bill, he was summoned to the Vatican for a severe tongue lashing from Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

Benedict is well known to be opposed to same-sex unions, and has spoken out against it on several occasions.

On June 6, he criticized gay marriage as anarchic "pseudo-matrimony."

Benedict also spearheaded a campaign by the Vatican against same-sex unions in 2003 when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

He issued guidelines for Catholic politicians to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay married couples.

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