Hundreds of Paraguay teachers unite against abortion

Asunción, Paraguay, Feb 6, 2012 / 12:03 pm

More than 500 teachers participating in the Catholic Teachers Congress in Paraguay rejected abortion and same-sex unions amid efforts to legalize both in neighboring countries such as Argentina.

In his message to the teachers during the Feb. 1-2 event in Asuncion, Archbishop Pastor Cuquejo said that the family is where education begins and where children are formed in their consciences.

“For this reason we defend the family made up of one man and one woman, who should do whatever necessary to provide comprehensive well being to their children,” the archbishop said.

He added that abortion and same-sex unions undermine the family, which is essential for society to exist and thrive. “If we weaken the family, we weaken society,” Archbishop Cuquejo said.

Congress member De los Santos Lima Huerta also weighed in and urged teachers not to give in to new tendencies in the country to impose sexual education on students.

He encouraged them to dialogue with students and said parents should take the lead in the education of their children. Families, and not the state or schools, are the primary educators of children, he said.

Parents should talk to their children and help them “to learn about their sexuality and not be afraid about confronting today’s situations,” Huerta emphasized.