Zapatero tells Vatican it can't dictate laws

One week after a controversial papal visit, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said on Sunday that the Vatican had no right to try to dictate what laws should be enacted in Spain.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Catalonia, the prime minister took a swipe at the veiled comments made last week by Pope Benedict XVI during a two-day visit to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona. The Socialist responded to criticism by the opposition Popular Party (PP) and the CiU Catalan nationalist blocfor his not attending last Sunday's mass held to consecrate the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona.

"What does [PP leader Mariano] Rajoy want? For us to draft laws that the pope wants? No, we will make our own laws, that the parliament and the people of this country want, that are fair and equal for everyone," said Zapatero.

During homily, the pope attacked gay marriage by reaffirming the Vatican's opposition on the issue, and called on Catholics to reject "aggressive laicism," which he compared to the anticlericalism of the 1930s.

Sources close to the prime minister said that during a 10-minute meeting with the pope at the Barcelona airport before he returned to the Vatican, Zapatero reminded him that the separation of Church and state was guaranteed under the Constitution.