Cardinal López Trujillo says family needs to be strengthened against false “rights”

Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 16, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Cardinal López Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, is warning that the family needs to be strengthened against the aggression of false “rights” which attack the human person.

Speaking from Puebla, Mexico, where the Latin America Bishops Conference is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Puebla document drafted in that city, the Colombian Cardinal warned that “different parliaments, especially in Europe, are inventing new human rights” such as gay marriage and the right to abortion.

Addressing Cardinals and Bishops from 22 Latin American countries, Cardinal López said the Catholic Church should work for renewed respect for the human person, who is under attack by misguided legislation.

“If the family is broken and the mother or father are absent from their children, a world is being created in which love and fidelity do not matter,” said Cardinal López.

He also recalled that society has changed significantly since the III General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate took place 25 years ago.  He pointed out, though, that “despite the passing of years, the values of the human person should not be changed, but rather persevered and conserved.”

The Cardinal concluded with an urgent call to evangelize the culture, “to bring about a new society that is truly human and rooted in Gospel values.”