Asunción, Paraguay, Sep 20, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Archbishop Pastor Cuquejo of Asuncion, Paraguay, encouraged young people this week to defend life, saying those who argue that “overpopulation” is the cause of poverty are simply wrong.
“Life is a value which we should promote and you are the ones who should defend this immense gift of God,” the Archbishop said, reminding young people that they are between two worlds: the old world, dominated by corruption and lies, and the new world, which seeks to bring fulfillment and fullness to the human person.
Archbishop Cuquejo stated that “everyday you are challenged to choose between one world or the other.”
Likewise, he explained, “Today we are almost drowned in the depths of misery because of corruption. Those who rob are the ones who create poverty and ensure that there are poor people,” despite the fact that the “higher-ups” in the world want to convince people that the problem is not corruption but overpopulation.
“Life itself suffers the consequences of this dishonesty. The evil people who mismanage their own lives tell us today: ‘we must kill in order for there to be less people; we must kill the unborn so that we have enough food to eat’. This is a fallacy, a corruption of the mind and the heart,” the Archbishop said, adding that the morning after pill is abortifacient and causes harm to women.
Archbishop Cuquejo criticized the campaign that is promoting the use of the pill. “We know it is abortifacient, that it causes harm; nevertheless, we hear these discourses that are full of fallacies, and science has proven the opposite. Yes, pseudoscience tries to deceive us by saying it is not abortifacient” he stated.
Therefore, he went on, “when they lie to us and their speeches do not reflect the truth, they are dishonest. Honesty is based on justice, and those who do not impart justice as they should are dishonest people.”
Over 5,000 young people participated this past weekend in the Jubilee of Young People, which took place at the Archdiocesan seminary and culminated in a pilgrimage to the Cathedral where the Archbishop of Asuncion presided at Mass.