Expert says Christian politicians have right to defend ethical principles

San José, Costa Rica, Oct 25, 2010 / 16:01 pm

The director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the John Paul II University in Costa Rica stated last week that Christians have the right to defend ethical principles in the public square.

In an article published by the Costa Rican daily, La Nacion, the director of the center, Luis Fernando Gutierrez, criticized those who seek to stop Christians from defending the unborn and promoting the traditional family.

Gutierrez called it “inappropriate that the Church should not or could not propose anything in political or public life,” since like any other institution ... in a democratic country, the Church has the right to propose ideas and provide guidance regarding policies that should be adopted by the state.

“There is no reason why any other group, party or non-governmental organization can offer their point of view or ideology but the Church can’t propose her 2,000 years of teaching,” Gutierrez said.

He noted that the Church’s arguments on issues such as abortion, in vitro fertilization, marriage and the family are based on reason. They are “perfectly understandable to anyone, even to those who not share the Christian or Catholic faith.”

Gutierrez said politicians and public officials “have the right and duty to participate in and organize dialogue forums with different members and institutions of civil society,” as it is “in their name that they govern.”

He then lamented that many politicians and public officials in a country with a Catholic majority such as Costa Rica have chosen to “hide or even betray their principles and their religions confession” out of “an inferiority complex.”

He said that while the factions that work against human life and the family get a lot of media attention, “in reality they are only a small number of militants” who only vote “for those politicians who totally identify with their ideological, social and cultural agenda.”