Mexico is land of life and not of death, says Cardinal Rivera

Mexico City, Mexico, Jun 24, 2008 / 12:39 pm

The Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, addressed the upcoming Supreme Court decision on whether or not to strike down the law legalizing abortion Mexico City, by saying that “Mexico is a land of life and not of death.” He also called on Mexicans to stand up for life.

“We come to the feet of Our Lady of Guadalupe to express thanks for the gift of life and to reaffirm the truth about human life in a world that turns a blind eye to what science confirms: that the life of the embryo is human from the first moment of conception until the last moment of its natural existence,” the cardinal said during Sunday Mass at the conclusion of a massive pro-life march.

“True secularism is that which listens to reason,” the cardinal continued, “and not that which is carried away by politically imposed madness.  Christians “want their right to defend their points of view with reason, tolerance and respect to be respected” without being labeled as “backwards for not going along with the official opinions of the self-proclaimed intelligentsia.”

“Mexico is a land of life and not of death,” and this is the truth that “we must proclaim in society,” the truth “we must defend, with clarity of reason, amidst the legal quandaries that a pluralist society puts on the table for debate and on the consciences of people,” Cardinal Rivera said.

He encouraged the faithful to support “pregnant women in order to help them overcome the difficult temptation to eliminate the new life that has begun in them.” In this way they will be witnesses in the midst of a plural and democratic culture to the need for values that guarantee the lives of everyone.

The pro-life march, called the “Pilgrimage for the Marvelous Gift of Life, took place on June 22.  Thousands took part in the three-hour event which ended with a Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe.