AMERICA/BRAZIL - Declaration from Aparecida on the Defence of Life: “Legislation cannot be founded upon mere political consensus; it must be based on a moral code that stems from a positive natural order.”

Aparecida (Agenzia Fides) - “Legislation cannot be founded upon mere political consensus; it must be based on a moral code that stems from a positive natural order,” is what is stated in the “Declaration from Aparecida in Defence of Life,” proclaimed on Sunday, February 10, at the close of the First Congress in Defence of Life (February 6-10 in Aparecida, Brazil), which was attended by various representatives from all over the world (see Fides 4/2/2008). The congress was held in immediate response to the to the proposals made in the Fraternity Campaign 2008, sponsored by the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops, with the theme: “Fraternity and defence of life” with the motto of “So, choose life” (see Fides 6/2/2008).
In the Declaration of Aparecida, participants speak out against the implanting of a culture of death that leads to a loss of the meaning of life, ethical values, and natural rights, from which all other rights are derived. They also speak against such topics as: the intent to legalise abortion in Latin America, fraud in the scientific field, the manipulation of language and the authorities that allow the manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceuticals that kill human beings in the first moments of their life, such as abortifacients, state programs in favour of abortion, implementation of a sexual education, in schools, that is hedonistic and removed from a context of love, the promotion of a general ideology including the imposition of homosexuality among children and young people, and the intent to legalise euthanasia in the country.
In the face of this situation, the participants of the Congress have asked that there be permanent regulators established in order to assure the faithful implementation of the new proposals made in favour of human rights, life, and the family, as well as the knowledge of the Church’s social doctrine from the perspective of the Gospel of Life. They also ask that institutions, groups, and leaders all collaborate in taking effective measures in defence of and respect for life and human dignity. (Agenzia Fides 13/2/2008 righe 25, parole 335)