“In Latin America their agenda is clear: Foster Catholic dissent on the issue of abortion and contraceptives, provide Catholics with a supposed ‘rational alternative’ to Church doctrine, and ‘educate’ about reproductive health rights (abortion and systematic contraception) in Latin America.”
The archdiocese made it clear that Catholics may not support abortion, and said the “Catholics for the Right to Decide” organization cannot be properly called Catholic.
“When Catholics feel confused by the arguments in favor of abortion, they simply must turn to ecclesial documents such as the encyclical of Saint John Paul II, ‘Evangelium Vitae,’ to note that the teachings of the Church go hand in hand with morality, and abortion will always be against the faith because it involves the deliberate death of an innocent human being,” the archdiocese said.
It added that “the Church defends life from conception to death, and opposes abortion even in cases of rape, because revulsion against a crime can never become revulsion against an innocent child that has been conceived.”
In 1993, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement declaring that “Catholics for a Free Choice merits no recognition or support as a Catholic organization.”
In Brazil, the Don Bosco Center for Faith and Culture Association filed suit arguing that the use of the term “Catholic” by Catholics for the Right to Decide is fraudulent, since “under the pretext of defending the 'reproductive rights of women,'” it is actually promoting the “murder of babies in the womb.”
The Brazilian court handling the case ruled last November that “Catholics for the Right to Decide” must remove the term “Catholic” from its name, as the organization’s goals are incompatible with the values of the Catholic Church.
(Story continues below)
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