State broadcaster to examine bishop's televised anti-gay Easter sermon

Comments about homosexuals and abortion made by a priest during a church service, broadcast live by a television station that is part of the RTVE state broadcasting corporation, are to be examined by the organization's board of directors.

In the sermon, shown on TVE's La 2 on Good Friday, the Bishop of Alcalá de Henares, Juan Antonio Reig Pla, spoke of people today who "end up lacking guidance about what human sexuality is; already from childhood they think they are attracted to partners of the same sex.

"Sometimes to check on this they corrupt and prostitute themselves - or go to men's clubs. I assure you they will find hell," he said.

Reig Pla also referred to abortion in his homily: "Women who have aborted carry the suffering in their hearts and many of them cannot sleep because the sin always carries the destruction of a person."

The RTVE board will now debate whether to present a complaint against the Episcopal Conference over the sermon, say sources.

"We are not questioning the format, but we do ask that constitutional values be respected and in this case they have been violated," said the Socialist-chosen board member Miguel Ángel Sacaluga.