After that “yes”

At the end of its annual spiritual retreat at Fatima, gathered in extraordinary assembly on 16 February, the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference issued a pastoral statement relating to the result of the referendum on abortion held on 11 February. The communiqué of the bishops points out that, in spite of the fact that the majority of electors did not vote, “the result in favour of ‘yes’ is the signal of an accentuated cultural change of the Portuguese people, an indication of the context in which the Church is called to perform her mission”. A CULTURAL CHANGE… This situation – say the Portuguese bishops – reflects “a culture that is not impregnated with those fundamental ethical values, such as the inviolability of human life, that ought to inspire the laws”. The causes for the loss of these values are to be identified “in the media generalization of currents of opinion, shortcomings of the educational system, individualism and the relativism of personal and social principles that influence the formation and exercise of consciences”. Expressing satisfaction for the huge and qualified civic mobilization in defence of maternity, “positive signal of hope”, and stigmatising “a bill that, in wishing to de-penalize abortion, ends up by legalizing it”, the bishops emphasize that the pro-life campaign must continue: it must aim, with ever greater intensity and renewed means, at the same objectives it has always pursued: “Helping mothers in difficulty, illuminating consciences and creating the conditions to prevent recourse to abortion, whether legal or clandestine”. …AND HOW REALISTICALLY TO TACKLE IT. The bishops’ statement recognises that the cultural change must be tackled realistically. “It is essential that the mission of the Church be conceived and realized with creativity and boldness, especially in relation to youth, families and the new social dynamics”. The evangelising task includes “the illumination of consciences, whose fundamental source of light is revealed truth, transmitted by the Church in the framework of a living tradition”. The bishops therefore appeal to Portuguese Catholics “to consider, in the silence and serenity of their inner being, the need to remain faithful to these truths and doctrines”. They also remind all Christians that the social legalization of abortion does not ipso facto make it morally legitimate: “All abortion practices continue to constitute a grave sin, disobeying the Lord’s commandment, ‘Thou shalt not kill'”. The bishops also appeal to doctors and health workers “not to hesitate to have recourse to the conscientious objection” that the law guarantees to them. The recommendation made directly to pregnant women, who feel tempted to have recourse to abortion, and to parents, is “not to act with precipitation”; instead of taking a decision in solitude and suffering, the bishops counsel such women to reflect and to open their hearts in dialogue with someone”: “A child that, in prospect, may seem an insuperable problem is so often revealed as a solution to their own existence”. A PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGY. The bishops’ statement adds that, in the current context of Western society, “it is only possible to achieve a balanced policy of childbirth through the active support of maternity”. It identifies the most urgent response to the tragedy of abortion “in the creation and reinforcement of comprehensive and effective structures of support”: the statistical data show that “many women who find themselves confronted with an undesired maternity, if they feel themselves helped, then decide to carry through with their pregnancy”. Nonetheless, the Portuguese bishops agree that a medium and long-term solution must also be based on “a pedagogical strategy aimed at inculcating freedom in responsibility and educating in sexuality”. These are the factors that are able to foster the “responsible management of fertility, through conscious family planning, able to respect and integrate the moral choices of each”. “Only once the conception of a child is a responsible act, and not the result of a lack of reflection – concludes the bishops’ statement -, will the problem of abortion be in large part resolved”. With this objective, and despite the new legal context, the Portuguese Church has no intention of abdicating from “the struggle in defence of life and the dignity of human existence as a whole”. For she considers that to be “one of her most noble civilizing missions”.