Quito, Ecuador, Apr 5, 2013 / 15:19 pm
The Family Ministry Office of the Archdiocese of Quito has invited Catholics to take part in a day of prayer for life and marriage in the Ecuadoran capital.
Thousands are expected to take part in the "Ecuador for Life and the Family" demonstration on May 4.
The day of prayer will be dedicated to asking God "to save our Ecuador, a country consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, from all immoral and criminal laws that entrap our families, our children and our society."
"Never has the country been so on the verge of ending the right to life from the moment of conception," as well as traditional marriage, the Family Ministry Office said on April 6.
It pointed to the threat posed by new laws that would legalize abortion up to the twelfth week of pregnancy and destroy the concept of marriage between one man and one woman.
The law would allow people to decided that they want to be "today a woman, tomorrow a man or vice versa," with no grounding in nature or biology, the office warned.
It also cautioned that the legislation would cease to recognize the right of children to a mother and a father.
The archdiocesan ministry office also denounced a plan by the government to mandate the distribution of five forms of contraceptives, including the morning-after pill, free of charge and without parental consent.
It urged Ecuadorans to join in prayer that God will save the country "from all these immoral and criminal laws that entrap our families, our children and our society."