"Celibacy was no longer a form of life which could keep him happy," according to a church source.. ELIZABETH NASH Madrid The Spanish Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez, wearing his authority as President of the European Union as gracefully as his habitual cashmere jackets, yesterday defied his Catalan government partners over plans for the next six months and in effect challenged them to pull the plug on his minority rule.Heedless of threatening grumbles that have been emanating from the Catalan camp in recent days, Mr Gonzalez laid down his vision of Spain's EU presidency in parliament, at the core of which lie strict budget controls.Mr Gonzalez pledged to prepare the Spanish economy to join the third stage of European monetary union, that of a single currency, by 1999 - a timetable that many consider ambitious, given Spain's undistinguished economic performance. Some newspapers have also offered readers a chance to write in, so supporters of the petition point out that not all who signed it will be devout Catholics. It has been displayed outside churches in sympathetic dioceses (it is banned in Bishop Krenn's) for the past four weeks. He accompanied Pope John Paul II on his visit to Slovakia which ended yesterday.The organisers of the petition in Austria had hoped for 100,000 signatures.

His silence has puzzled some church members and enraged many. The signals from the Vatican have been confusing: a coadjutor bishop with the right of succession to Cardinal Groer has been appointed, but the Cardinal appears to remain in good odour. It was immediately pointed out that the Catholic bishops of the day had unanimously and publicly urged their countrymen to vote for Hitler when they had the chance. Bishop Krenn has been attacked by fellow bishops and by the opposition Green Party, which has urged the Vatican to sack him.Bishop Krenn is now one of the chief targets of the rebellion, but the crisis was started by another Vatican appointee, the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Hans Hermann Groer.Cardinal Groer was accused before Easter by former seminarians of sexually abusing them when they were in his care He has refused to respond to these allegations at all.

That figure, equivalent to every third Mass-attending Catholic, represents an extraordinary rebellion by the laity in a traditionally conservative country.The petition also calls for an end to compulsory priestly celibacy; a more relaxed attitude to questions of sexual discipline, including birth control and the acceptance of divorced and remarried people; and a greater local voice in the appointment of bishops.A leading conservative bishop, Karl Krenn of St Poelten, further inflamed opinion last week when he compared those who signed the petition in favour of Church democracy to the Austrians who voted for union with Hitler's Germany in the referendum of 1938. As it is, it will have to content itself with rejecting the official presidential and vice-presidential candidates This it will surely do.. ANDREW BROWN Religious Affairs Correspondent The crisis in the Catholic Church in Austria will intensify today when the organisers of a petition in favour of women priests will announce that more than 400,000 people have signed it. If the electorate were able to do so, it would send the whole Chancery Lane establishment packing. If they did, they would obtain no support at all.They pretend to be reformists But few will be deceived.

Solicitors know only too well what their problems are: an ever more crowded profession, lower fees, longer working hours, a crushing burden of practising expenses - all hard to bear when the public continues to regard them as fat cats.The Law Society is unpopular because for years it has failed even to recognise the problems, let alone find solutions to them. The society's official candidates are old faces closely identified with old failed policies They do not stand on their record. I am now subjected to a campaign of marginalisation based on disinformation as to what I stand for.I hope to revitalise the society by breaking with the past and bringing fresh energy and purpose to a mandate for modernisation and vigorous defence of our strengths.Martin Mears'The society is perceived as aloof, bumbling and bureaucratic'Aloof, bumbling and bureaucratic: that is how the Law Society is perceived It has lost the confidence of the profession. Ordinary solicitors see it as a stern regulator, formidable to them but not to anyone else.A crisis of confidence can only be resolved by an election in which the electorate has the chance to choose new people with new policies. Mr Mears has campaigned with spiteful rhetoric, while visibly losing faith in his early "proposals" as they are shown to be either unlawful, impossible or plain daft. Mr Hodge started with his "don't worry, trust us" speech, but he has recently been taken in hand and brought on board the modernising programme which I alone had been carrying to the electorate till then. Neither the council nominee who stood down nor the one who replaced him can offer a credible way out of that complacency and compromise.I believe I have been consistent throughout.