AMERICA/PERU - Respect life from the moment of conception and promote respect for life from the moment of conception, stop all forms of abortion and manipulation of human life, pass laws to guarantee the stability of the marriage bond: pro-life movements appeal to world leaders and governments

Friday, 18 November 2005

Lima (Fides Service) - “America launches a challenge: let’s globalise the culture of life” was the theme of an International Pro-Life Congress held in Lima 10 to 13 November. In a final Lima Declaration over 5,000 participants from many different countries reaffirmed commitment to promoting respect for life and the family, tracing lines of action and underlining the fundamental principles on the right to life and the family: “The first human right is the right to life without discrimination of sex, age, race, faith, economic or social situation or any other condition”. Every human person must be protected and respected from the moment of conception to natural death. The declaration calls on world leaders and governments to shoulder their responsibility to protect the life of every human being and therefore “to stop all forms of abortion, eugenics, euthanasia, or anything which manipulates human life in any way”.
The Declaration affirmed that the family constituted by marriage of a man and women, monogamous, indissoluble and open to life “is the natural environment for generating and educating every human person” and called for respects for the rights of parents in matters of education in which the function of the state is always “subsidiary”.
With the Lima Declaration the participating national and international pro-life organisations and movements from all over the world promised to “keep permanent watch that the right to life and human dignity are respected” and to “publicly denounce people who violate this right”. To do this they agreed to set up national and international bodies to monitor political parties and leaders, civil society organisations, media and media sponsors, “to give people documented information in view of starting pertinent judicial, social and political action”…
Young participants at the 1st International Youth Pro-Vida Symposium denounced a world which proposes an individualistic and consumerist life style, lacks transcendent principles, searches for happiness in disordered pleasure and material goods, encourages promiscuity with serious consequences such as the break-up of marriage and the family, loss of respect for human life, increased violence, egotism and loss of authentic values, and said for their part they realise youth is a time of personal formation and growth, a time to learn self control.
They called on national authorities, people responsible for media and civil society organisations to ensure that “that authentic development of young people is not distorted or manipulated by economic, ideological, political or social interests” and to promote authentic moral and ethic values, respect young people’s freedom and right to prepare for marriage and above all the right “not to be tricked into casual sexual relations with campaigns of so-called safe sex”. The young participants say they believe in “true happiness based on authentic love - reciprocal self giving - and reject false stereotypes which lead to emptiness and frustration, and put their sexuality “at the service of authentic love and life”. (RZ) (Agenzia Fides 18/11/2005, righe 40, parole 571)


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