Protesting the Pope

Same sex couples from all over the world have deliberate to snog each other in the Cathedral square in Barcelona in front of the Pope next month.

A group on Facebook, Queer Kissing Flashmob, which managed to receive 12,000 users to agree to go along on November 7 and display their love in public, has been closed down by Facebook, claim the organisers.

This has added greater fuel to the fire, and one of the organisers, Marylène Carole, expressed her disbelief that a couple kissing in public could be considered outrageous in this day and age.

It's difficult to understand how the noble and loving behave of kissing your partner can still be defined as revolutionary in the 21st century, she commented.

It appears to be a form of censorship, and yet it was only started by a group of friends who have no connections to any political group or any kind of gay association.

Those who intend to go to Barcelona on November 7 say they will make a point of kissing their other halves in the Cathedral square just as Pope Benedict XVI walks out of the door.

Roughly 100 gay and lesbian couples greeted the Pope on his visit to Barcelona with a collective kiss to protest against the Vatican's stance on sexual freedom, divorce and condom use.

This is a peaceful act of protest to demonstrate that love is the same in the hearts of everyone, said Jordi Petit, leader of the Catalonian activist group that organised the smooch fest.

Church attendance in Spain continues its steep decline. So it is not surprising that the Pope on Saturday declared Spain the epicentre of a battle between faith and modernity in Europe.

After waxing poetic on the relationship between beauty and religion, he took aim at Spain's abortion law, calling on the state to defend the life of a child from the moment of conception. He also registered a plea for state support of the traditional family. Generous love between a man and a woman is the efficient framework and basis of human life, he said.