Church steps into political fray in Spain
Bishops remind Catholic voters of their duty to defend traditional values in Sunday's elections. Socialist Party officials are furious.
By Tracy Wilkinson,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 5, 2008

MADRID -- Spain's most prominent Roman Catholic priests have stepped into the center of a bare-knuckle election campaign here, igniting a firestorm by seeming to tell voters how to cast their ballots.

The powerful Spanish Bishops Conference, in a recent widely disseminated "message to the public," reminded Catholic voters of their duty to defend traditional values and to elect leaders "responsibly" when they go to the polls Sunday. Catholics make up the vast majority in this country. the rest