Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has filed suit against a cardinal who claims Ebrard bought a Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

Ebrard filed his suit Wednesday after Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez accused Ebrard and his government of bribing the court to rule in favor of a gay marriage law approved by Mexico City lawmakers in December.

The city previously recognized gay and lesbian couples with civil unions and banned the right of gay couples to adopt children.

Mexico's federal government, which is ruled by the conservative PAN party, challenged the law on the grounds that it was detrimental to children.

But in three decisive back-to-back decisions, the country's Supreme Court sided with the city. A week after declaring the law to be constitutional, the court ruled that all of Mexico's 32 jurisdictions must recognize the gay marriages performed in the capital.

The court also upheld the law's gay adoption provision.

Speaking at a press conference in Aguascalientes the day before the court issued its final ruling, Iniguez said the court would not reach such an “absurd” conclusion unless it was motivated by a large sum of money.

“I do not know of any of you who would like to be adopted by a pair of lesbians or a pair of fags,” he said. “I think not.”

The fifty-year-old mayor immediately asked the church to apologize or prove its claim. The church refused, and added that it had proof the justices were bribed by government officials and international rights groups.

“Let me remind the cardinal, the prelates and the spokesman who have been insulting, discrediting and threatening the Mexico City government and the SCJN (Supreme Court) that we live a secular state,” Ebrard said after filing his suit. “The cardinal must submit to the law of the land, like all other citizens of this country.”

Also named in the complaint is Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, who said the court's decision ruling in favor of gay adoption “did not take into account the common good of the child and considered the child like a dog or cat, without respect for its dignity.”

Valdemar also called for the ouster of Ebrard's government.

“He and his government have created laws destructive to the family, the laws do worse damage than drug trafficking,” he said. “Marcelo Ebrard and his party, the PRD, are determined to destroy us.”

In a “vote of censure,” the Supreme Court unanimously denounced the cardinal's statements.