Demagogue

First, it was pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for the so-called "morning after" pill. Now, the Vatican is appealing to religious conservatives in Spain to help obstruct the implementation of a same-sex marriage law that is almost sure to be enacted. As yesterday's Wall Street Journal (subscription req'd) explains:

On Friday, a day after Spain's lower house of parliament approved the bill (legalizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples), a senior Vatican cardinal called on Spanish civil servants to resist implementing the measure through civil disobedience, even if that meant losing their jobs.

"A law as deeply inequitable as this one is not an obligation," said Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo of Columbia, the head of the Pontifical Council on the Family and a close ally of the new pope ...

Much to the Vatican's dismay, times have changed quite dramatically in Spain:

Spain jailed homosexuals until 1975, banned contraceptives until 1978, and outlawed divorce until 1981. Certainly, many of the sweeping social changes since have come in reaction to the end of 36 years of right-wing dictatorship under Gen. Francisco Franco, which ended in 1975.

And as comedian Chevy Chase used to say on SNL, "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."

Much to the Vatican's chagrin.