Archbishop Carlos Emilio Berlie Belaunzaran of the Yucatan reminded Mexicans this week that moral law does not originate in statistics and that the fact that a crime such as abortion is committed with frequency does not mean it should be legalized.

The archbishop said that the fact that number of abortions committed has risen tremendously over the last ten years is no reason to legalize the practice.  “We are not the owners of anyone’s life, not that of a fetus, not that of an elderly 86-year old man,” he emphasized.

Archbishop Berlie said the faithful should not get confused by so many different statistics, because they are not the origin of the moral law, which is instead born of the divine commandment, “enshrined in the fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill.”

“There is a fifth commandment that says you shall not kill because you are not the owner of life, not even of your own,” he said.