Holy See alerts Latin American bishops about activities of pseudo-Catholic groups at the UN

Lima, Peru, Aug 31, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The Vatican Secretary of State has asked the bishops’ conferences of Latin America  to be on the alert against a campaign by “Catholics for a Free Choice” (CFC) to gather signatures of religious leaders in an attempt to support the concept of “reproductive health”-- a euphemism for abortion-- at the upcoming United Nations summit.

From September 14-16 the Millennium +5 Summit will be held in New York, during which heads of state will discuss the proposals and goals set at the Millennium Summit of 2000.

CFC is taking advantage of the opportunity to gather as many signatures as possible for a statement that endorses the concept of “reproductive heath” according to the documents issued after the Cairo population summit and the Beijing summit on Women.  At these two summits, “reproductive health” meant abortion as a family planning method, and for this reason the Holy See and delegations from many other countries strongly rejected the concept.

Responding to the Holy See’s request, the Bishops’ Conference of Brazil put out its own statement calling on bishops around the world to be vigilant against attempts to coax them into falling into the trap of signing the document and discrediting the action of the Church and the Holy See in defense of life.