MADRID – The head of the Roman Catholic church in Spain, Archbishop Manuel Monteiro de Castro, said Monday the church believed gay couples had the right to have their relationships recognised.

But Archbishop Monteiro said their relationships could not be compared with the marriage of a man and a woman.

He was responding to the announcement by prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that he would legalise gay weddings in Spain.

The archbishop’s remarks also came after Jon Alsina,  a priest near Girona, in Catalonia, north-east Spain, said he would support gay marriage.

Archbishop Monteiro said in accordance with other European countries a marriage between a man and a woman was the definition of a wedding.

But he acknowledged that “there are other forms of co-habiting”.

“It is understood that they are recognised but they are not the same thing,” he said.

Archbishop Monteiro said that gay couples should have the right to joint social security payments and other rights like other citizens.

But he added that “gay weddings are totally against the doctrine of the Catholic Church”.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news