Chilean bishop: In matters of the defense of life, government must respect “essential morality”

Santiago, Chile, May 6, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Bishop Juan Ignacio González of San Bernardo, Chile, said this week the defense of life from the moment of conception is not exclusive to Catholics and that the government should “respect essential morality in the application of state health policies.”

The bishop’s comments were in response to Chile’s Secretary General of the Government, Francisco Vidal, who criticized Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz’s questioning of the decision to distribute 30,000 morning after pills—known for their abortifacient effects—by saying he governs for 15 million Chileans and not for a creed.

According to Bishop González, with the measure, the Executive power “has gotten itself into a mess.  It’s the government that is playing with fire, not the Church,” he said, adding that “even when one is governing 15 million Chileans, one can never act immorally.”

The bishop asked authorities to go to the heart of the problem, which is the debate over whether nor not human life begins at conception.

 “Is human life from the moment of conception off limits? Yes or no,” asked the bishop.

Bishop González said that the measure reflects an “attempt to change some basic and fundamental parameters of our society.”  “At heart here is an anthropological issue, a concept about man and society,” he said.