Archbishop Emeritus Jose Cardoso Sobrinho of Olinda y Recife, who tried to defend and protect a nine year-old girl before she underwent a court-ordered abortion, remarked that pro-abortion politicians and candidates cannot represent honest citizens.

The archbishop, who publicly defended the young girl who was pregnant with twins and tried to keep her from undergoing an illegal abortion in March of 2009, made his statements in a letter to the author of the “Catechism Against Abortion,” Father David Francisquini.

Archbishop Sobrinho told the author that he hoped “many other voices would join his in courageously proclaiming that the Law of God is above any human law.”

In response to abortions occurring in Brazil and around the world, the archbishop noted that “the silence of so many people is extremely worrisome, especially by those who are in public office.”

He then denounced the more than 50 million abortions that take place each year.  “Silence can be interpreted as tacit acceptance, and it can constitute complicity in the practice of abortion,” he warned.

For this reason, the archbishop said that “honest citizens” cannot vote public officials into office who defend “abortion, divorce or other violations of the Law of God.  Such candidates cannot represent Catholics or Christians or any honest citizen.”

Archbishop Sobrinho recalled the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states in paragraph 2270, “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”