Families unite to welcome Pope to Spain

VALENCIA, Spain, July 8 (Reuters) Thousands of pilgrims from around the world crowded into Valencia to welcome Pope Benedict to a family fiesta today but the mood was torn between celebration and sadness after this week's train crash.

As soon as the Pope arrives in the seaside city he will visit the site of the underground accident which killed 41 people, before moving on to a programme of walkabouts among the faithful and meetings with Spanish leaders.

All eyes are on an audience the 79-year-old pontiff will have with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who was heavily criticised by the Catholic Church for legalising gay marriages, unions the Vatican has called an ''eclipse of God''.

''Family values are disintegrating worldwide, especially in Europe,'' said Chijioke Ugwuoke, a Nigerian visiting Valencia with his wife Patriera.

''In Africa, we value the family a lot, we live a communal, close-knit family life and we enjoy it and want the whole world to enjoy it,'' he added, under the beating Mediterranean sun.

Dozens of Valencians opened their homes to pilgrims from afar who came to celebrate the World Meeting of Families.

Others camped out in a park that snakes down a dry riverbed through Valencia and tens of thousands joined together on the beach for a prayer vigil last night ahead of the pope's arrival at 1500 hrs IST today.

''It's hard labour but there's a marvellous atmosphere with all the nations working together,'' said Leo Candela, a volunteer laying out chairs in front of a futuristic arts and science centre designed by famed Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava.

Organisers expect about a million people to turn up to a family celebration on Saturday evening and a Sunday mass led by the Pope.

Zapatero will break a tradition in most Catholic countries that the national leader should attend the papal mass.

Government officials did not give a reason for his absence.

The Valencia visit is Pope Benedict's third trip abroad since his election last April and his first to Spain, once a Catholic stronghold and now under a Socialist government that is breaking the Church's influence.

As well as legalising gay marriage, Zapatero's government has infuriated the Church with laws to speed up divorce procedures, replace religious education with citizenship classes and make fertility treatment easier.

Reuters PDS VP0520