Defence of life, always ” “

“The defence of life is not a ‘conservative’ issue nor is social justice ‘progressive’: we must contextualize into the message of the Gospel, which is global, the defence of life and the preferential option for the poor”, said the general secretary and spokesman of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE), Fr José Maria Gil Tamayo, presenting the final communiqué of the 230th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bishops Conference which was held in Madrid on 28 and 29 January. In favour of life. The defence of life from conception to its natural end is the first item of the statement, in which the Spanish bishops remind us that “the Catholic Church’s position on this issue is well known and shared by many men and women of good will of other faiths and even by non-believers, who are defending the right to life of every innocent human being as a common heritage of reason”. The Spanish prelates equally “welcome all initiatives in favour of human life, in particular those designed to protect the life of the weaker brackets, which include the unborn. “The CEE refers to the approval, in December, by the Spanish government, of a bill that makes abortion no longer a right, but an offense, decriminalized in certain circumstances: up to the 14th week in cases of rape and up to 22th in the event of serious danger to the physical or mental health of the woman. Moreover, sixteen and seventeen year olds, are required to have an abortion parental permission. While the legislative proposal “represents a step forward compared to present legislation”, that considers abortion a right until the 14th week of pregnancy and legitimizes it until the 22th, if the fetus has severe deformities, “a law on abortion, however restrictive, is an unjust law”, the Spanish bishops point out, because “no one, under any circumstances, has the right to take the life of another human being”. Support to pregnant women in need. “Abortion is not a solution – clarify the bishops – and the unborn child is not the problem”. For this reason, the bishops emphasized the need to strengthen support and solidarity to pregnant women in need. “The great tragedy of abortion is its social acceptance – said Don Gil Tamayo, answering journalists’ questions during a press conference that closed the meeting of the bishops -: society has become a place where life is no longer valued. This is a pastoral challenge for the Church. The position against abortion is not a religious position, it is a defense that is reinforced by the Christian religion, because Christ became man”. The teaching of religion. The second item on the agenda of the standing Committee was the question of the teaching of religion in schools, according to the recent organic Law for the improvement of quality teaching (Lomce). Thanks to this provision, teaching of the Catholic religion has returned to be compulsory in primary and middle schools, having been optional under the government headed by Socialist premier Zapatero. The bishops have welcomed this aspect of the law, but at the same time, they are dissatisfied because in high schools the subject is not mandatory. Now the bishops hope that the mandatory aspect will also be applied to kindergartens and high schools, so that “parents may exercise their right to educate their children in conformity with their own religious and moral convictions”. In Rome with the Pope. The documents discussed in the CEE meeting include the Pastoral Instruction “To cherish and promote the memory of Jesus Christ”, as part of the catechetical project of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, which will culminate in the upcoming publication of “Witnesses of the Lord”, a catechism intended for children between 10 and 14 years. Finally, the Spanish bishops have prepared the upcoming Ad Limina visit, which will see them in Rome between February 24 and March 8. The collective audience with Pope Francis is scheduled for Monday, March 3.