Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Fides Service) - Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Sáenz, Archbishop of Bogota and President of the Colombian Bishops’ Conference (CEC), in his address to open the Conference’s 79th plenary assembly taking place in Bogota 4 - 8 July, said “the Bishops’ Conference, faithful to its mission to announce the Gospel of life and profoundly concerned by so many manifestations of violence and death, expresses once again its commitment to call all men and women of goodwill to courageously commit themselves to protecting human life”. In his address the Cardinal called on government, legislators and magistrates to decide for measures to promote a culture of life: “Every attack on life is an attack on justice and a serious offence against God, the Lord of life”.
In this perspective Cardinal Rubiano Sáenz said that the Bishops of Colombia intend to “denounce an international plot against life and against the integrity of the family expressed in our country with two requests made by the national Congress to the Supreme Court to legalise abortion and approve the Optional Protocol of the Convention for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women CEDAW (Comittee to eliminate discrimination against women)”. The Cardinal continued: “we grieve to see national sovereignty down-trodden, our cultural values ignored and models which attack the intergity of the family and offend the dignity of human person, the unborn child in particolar imposed on our country”.
In this context Cardinal Rubiano Saenz expressed appreciation and gratitude to various groups of lay people for their generous efforts to lead initiatives to oppose legalisation of abortion in Colombia: “It is significant for the country and for the world - he said - the unprecendented number of about 2 million signatures, as well as juridical actions for the benefit of human life”. (RZ) (Agenzia Fides 6/7/2005, righe 25, parole 338)
