Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Fides Service) - “The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, faithful to the Gospel of Life and faced with discussion in the Constitutional Court and the national congress on the legalisation of abortion” issued a statement “to illuminate consciences with regard to the value of human life and call people to protect life with determination”. The statement was issued by the Standing Committee of the Colombian Bishops’ Conference on 11 November.
Life must be respected from the moment of conception, the Bishops said, and this principle must guide the activity of the state, because to “allow abortion to be legalised in some cases means letting the state renounce its duties with regard to human life”.
“Abortion is an abominable crime which violates the fundamental right to life of the unborn child and configures a serious moral disorder which includes those who intervene in this fact” the statement says. “The matter is not private” because it affects other people. The Bishops strongly condemned discrimination against women, they proclaimed and defended the fundamental rights of every person, rejecting a culture of death, because there are no legitimate reasons for killing the unborn child.
The Colombian Bishops encouraged state organs to “promote effective recognition of women’s rights and to find alternative ways of protecting them in difficult situations”. Catholics must keep the commandment ‘you shall not kill, “which indicates the limit of that which cannot be overlooked in the social ambit and the responsibility of every man and women, believer and non, to respect human life”. Lastly the Bishops asked Catholics to unite for a day of prayer to ask the Lord of Life to help us “defend, protect, promote and celebrate life as the most precious gift of God” and to ask the Holy Spirit “to illuminate the minds of those who have the important mission to protect human life”. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 19/11/2005, righe 25, parole 346)
