Church in El Salvador calls on government to express reservations at youth summit

San Salvador, El Salvador, Oct 23, 2008 / 22:38 pm

Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle of San Salvador has called on the Salvadoran government to place conditions upon the document that will be voted on at the upcoming Latin American Summit of Heads of State and Government. The convention will focus on the rights of young people and may impose abortion and gender ideology on the countries of the continent.

 

Archbishop Saenz Lacalle suggested the government add as a condition to the document that “all commitments made will be implemented taking into account the current legal and constitutional norms in each country.” Several countries in the region have been pushing for such an exception in order to prevent those in charge of drafting the document from imposing their ideology on sovereign nations.

 

The archbishop reiterated his rejection of the Latin American Convention on the Rights of Young People and proposed that El Salvador draft its own laws on the issue based on the country’s fundamental values.

 

“The convention puts the State above the family.  It also presents serious confusion in moral issues,” the archbishop explained.