Preaching Civil Disobedience by Civil Servants

Here's a puzzle: Pope Benedict's chief official in charge of family matters, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, has stated that Catholic officials in the Spanish government should refuse to officiate at same-sex weddings if the Spanish same-sex marriage law passes.

Before condemning the Pope's directive to Catholic government officials (as announced through his spokesman) as a meddlesome interference in politics, consider whether you would feel differently if the Pope ordered American Catholics in positions of power to refuse to participate in executions of death row inmates.

Should it make any difference that the underlying substantive claim is same-sex marriage as opposed to the application of the death penalty? Should it matter that the Pope is ordering government officials as opposed to private citizens to refuse to cooperate with laws the Pope believes are unjust?