From CNA, which does a good job reporting news where Spanish is spoken:
Spanish archbishop calls for civil disobedience of new abortion law
Madrid, Spain, Jul 13, 2010 / 01:11 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Francisco Gil Hellin of Burgos warned this week there is no right to kill an innocent human being and therefore no obligation to obey to the new law on abortion. Rather, “direct opposition without distinction” must be mounted, he said.
“Let’s be clear: this law is not a law, although it is presented as such by some politicians and lawmakers. It is no law because nobody has the right to take the life of an innocent human being. For this reason it is not obligatory. Moreover, it demands direct opposition without distinction,” the archbishop said in a letter.
He underscored that reason cannot recognize abortion as a right because it constitutes the killing “of a person who is not guilty.” “The right of a person to exist who has already been conceived, although not yet born, is not a belief stemming from any religion. One does not need to be a believer to hold that an innocent person has the right to be defended and respected in his or her integrity. Common sense dictates that one cannot take a human life in order to solve another problem or to “get money or votes,” he said.
The archbishop went on to say it is a “fallacy to assert that this law was passed by a majority in Parliament and that it represents the will of the majority of citizens, or if the Constitutional Court upholds it, that opposing it would be disobedient and would warrant sanction.”
“The fallacy consists in giving politicians, judges or citizens a right they do not have. And nobody has the right to legislate the killing of an innocent person,” Archbishop Gil Hellin said. He urged Spaniards to help all mothers who are in difficult situations and to support motherhood “with all the means at our disposal” in order to “halt this plague of abortion that, in Spain alone has already destroyed more people than all those who live in the cities of Zaragoza, Cordoba and Burgos.”
I wonder what His Excellency would say to openly Catholic politicians who vote for such laws and who then present themselves for Holy Communion.
Kudos to Archbishop Gil Hellin.
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Now there is an example of a true apostle!
I don’t know what he would say exactly, but I think the words “whitewashed sepulchers” and “broods of vipers” would make their way into it.
Bravo!
Now, Pope Benedict is set to visit Spain (Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela).
I wonder if His Holiness will give Holy Communion to the King of Spain (who signed this bill into law); to the President of the Government (i.e, the Prime Minister) (who advised the King to sign and who countersigned the Act); to the Government ministers (who espoused the policy of making abortion legal under civil law), to those members of the Houses of the Cortes Generales (i.e. the Parliament) who voted in favour of this monstrosity and to the judges of the Constitutional Court who upheld its validity vis a vis the Constitution, a Constitution that recognizes the right to life (art. 15: Todos tienen derecho a la vida y a la integridad física y moral, sin que, en ningún caso, puedan ser sometidos a tortura ni a penas o tratos inhumanos o degradantes).
I wonder what will happen in a little over a year when pro-life youth from all over the world will descend upon Madrid for World Youth Day?
I am confused. How would one disobey this law? By not obtaining or performing an abortion?
Prof. Basto: Great question! Unfortunately it’s easy to guess the answer. One need only look to the smiling faces when the Obamas and Pelosi concluded their audiences with the Pope. I am certain they would not have been smiling after a session with Pope St. Pius X.
I imagine one would disobey this law by refusing to perform abortions. The regional government of Valencia has an interesting variation: they will allow the abortions only after the woman requesting it has been shown 3d sonograms of her baby and illustrated descriptions of the surgical procedures involved.
The socialist central government is having hysterics about this “anti-woman” stand…
A true sheperd. Would you ever hear this from an American bishop? Never in Fresno.
Viva His Excellency! Now that’s a true and courageous shepherd! From the city of ‘El Cid’, no less!
Bravo!
God bless this shepherd for speaking out with clarity!!
OH, for more of our Bishops to speak out with equal clarity for LIFE.
I am beside myself with gratefulness to God for this clear message of God’s teaching on life!
God bless Archbishop Gil Hellin.
Is it too late for the US to do the same? Better late than never. It is a chance for bishops to stand for the unborn; if they have been weak in the past, they can still redeem themselves – in a manner of speaking.
Courages comes from “cour” meaning love. Perhaps, they do not love the Lord and the unborn as much as this Spaniard.
Finally, some people look at things and say, “Why?” I look at things that never were and say, “Why not?” (RFK)
I linked to your report at http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/07/archbishop-calls-for-civil-disobedience.html
Now that the Obama admin OKs first tax funded abortions under Obamacare cfr. http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/07/obama-admin-oks-first-tax-funded.html
I wonder if the signers of the Manhattan Declaration will make good on their threat to commit acts of civil disobedience as well?
Central Valley, I have always wished that the Pope would somehow give the US some bishops from Spain, particularly in places with a high number of Spanish-speaking Catholics or a Spanish connection. The good bishops of Spain have a clarity of vision and an intellectual capacity that reflect the rigorous tradition of Spanish learning. Of course, alas, Spain also has horrible bishops (including one in Catalonia who refused to remove a priest who was paying for the abortions of his parishioners). In any case, the good bishops in Spain are in high demand in Spain itself, since a really bad or at least uneven crop is now reaching retirement age, just as in the US.
Spain has actually had a lot of lay activity in opposition to abortion for a long time (although rarely reported in the international press), and the clergy and heirarchy have been a little slow off the mark. I hope some of our bishops will take note of this.