 The bill 's passage was met with concern by Catholic authorities , including Pope John Paul II — who warned of a weakening of family values — and his successor Pope Benedict XVI . Cardinal López Trujillo , president of the Pontifical Council for the Family , said the Church was making an urgent call for freedom of conscience for Catholics and appealing to them to resist the law . He said every profession linked with implementing same @-@ sex marriages should oppose it , even if it meant losing their jobs . Gay rights supporters argued that while the Catholic Church also formally opposed opposite @-@ sex , non @-@ religious marriage , its opposition was not as vocal ; for example , the Church did not object to the marriage of Crown Prince Felipe to Letizia Ortiz , who had divorced from a previous civil marriage . The church was unable to gather enough support to derail the bill , even though 80 % of Spaniards identify as members of the Catholic Faith . Sociologists believe this may be due to the significant increase of liberalism in the realm of individual rights in recent years , where the Church traditionally had most influence , especially on family issues . A poll showed that three quarters of Spaniards believe the church hierarchy is out of touch with social reality . A complementary explanation might be that the Church 's influence on Spaniards declined after the death in 1975 of the dictator General Francisco Franco , whose regime was closely linked to the Church . 
