NEWS Spain's Catholic Church campaigns against gay marriage July 22, 2004 Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero MADRID — Spain's Roman Catholic Church has launched a campaign against the Socialist government's plans to legalize homosexual marriage, calling on Catholics to do "whatever they legally can" to oppose it in remarks reported in Spanish newspapers Wednesday. "The only true marriage is even more important to the life of peoples than the state," the Bishops' Conference said in a statement. Marriage must be based on the complementarity of the sexes and the capacity to procreate, the bishops added, warning that gay marriage would endanger "the right social order" and "the entire economic system". Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's three-month-old government wants to make Catholic Spain one of the first European countries to legalize homosexual marriage. – Sapa-DPA Related stories Spanish Bishops reject govt moves on gay marriage [21/07/2004]