Pope Stresses Opposition To Abortion

Benedict Arrives In Brazil For Five-Day Visit, His First To Latin America

(CBS/AP)  Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion in his first speech in Brazil but avoided further suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be considered excommunicated.

Benedict is on his first papal trip to Latin America, where women's rights groups have been pushing to expand access to abortion. With few exceptions, the procedure is illegal in Brazil and most other countries in the region, home to more than half the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.

The pope, who will inaugurate an important regional bishops' conference during his trip, was met at Sao Paulo airport Wednesday by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Speaking in Portuguese, Benedict said he's certain that the bishops will reinforce "the promotion of respect for life from the moment of conception until natural death as an integral requirement of human nature."

Benedict's comments came just hours after one of the president's Cabinet members said a "macho" culture in Brazil has prevented a legitimate debate about legalizing abortion in Latin America's largest nation.

"If men got pregnant, I'm sure this question would have been resolved a long time ago," said Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao, who is pushing for a referendum on the issue.

Silva recently told a local newspaper that he has always been against abortion personally, but as a president he could not close his eyes from the social problem when the lives of so many women were at stake, reports CBS News Vatican analyst Marco Tosatti.

Silva's spokesman said the president did not intend to bring up abortion during a second scheduled meeting with Benedict.

On Thursday morning, thousands of Brazilians streamed down barricaded streets toward the Pacaembu soccer stadium, where the pope was scheduled to preside over a ceremony for young people.

About 41,000 people were invited, but officials expected at least 100,000 more to gather outside. Not all agreed with the church.

"Until the church broadens its scope of action to include the dispossessed, the poor and the hungry and youth, the evangelical sects are going to continue gaining ground in Brazil," said Charles Marinho de Souza, 27-year-old union activist and member of a Catholic youth group.

Brazil is less and less catholic, adds Tosatti. Only the 64 percent of Brazilian over sixteen years of age declare themselves faithful to Rome. In 1996, before John Paul II last trip to this country, that number was 74 percent.

Even before Benedict got off his plane, he stoked a debate among Catholics who have been arguing whether politicians who approve abortion legislation as well as doctors and nurses who take part in the procedure subject themselves to automatic excommunication under church doctrine.

During the flight from Rome, Benedict gave his first full-fledged news conference since becoming pontiff in 2005. When a reporter pressed Benedict on whether he agreed that Catholic politicians who recently legalized abortion in Mexico City should rightfully be considered excommunicated, the response was "Yes."

Church law says anyone who procures a completed abortion is automatically excommunicated. But considering political support for abortion as equivalent to procurement would set new Vatican policy.

Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, later said the pope was not setting a new policy and did not intend to formally excommunicate anyone, a rare process under church law separate from the doctrine of self-excommunication.

But Lombardi added that politicians who vote in favor of abortion should not receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. "Legislative action in favor of abortion is incompatible with participation in the Eucharist. ... Politicians exclude themselves from Communion," he said.

As many as 20,000 faithful waited in cold rain for a glimpse of Benedict in South America's largest city, then chanted "Bento, Bento" and waved flags of different South American nations as he greeted them in Portuguese and Spanish blessed them in Latin.

As well as abortion, Benedict is expected to address other challenges to Roman Catholicism during his trip, including the church's declining influence in Brazil, the rise of evangelism and a deep divide between rich and poor.

The Vatican also has promised that Benedict will deliver a tough message on poverty and crime during his five-day visit to the world's most populous Roman Catholic country.

Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, visited Mexico and addressed Latin American bishops just three months after assuming the papacy. Benedict has waited two years for his first trip to the region, but he denied being "Eurocentric" or less concerned about poverty in the developing world than his predecessors.

"I love Latin America. I have traveled there a lot," he told reporters, adding that he is happy the time had come for the trip after focusing on more urgent problems in the Middle East and Africa.

Benedict, who visited Brazil as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1990, will celebrate several open-air Masses, including a canonization ceremony for Brazil's first native-born saint, and visit a church-run drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.

The tour ends on Sunday, when he will open the conference of Latin American and Caribbean bishops in the shrine city of Aparecida.

[mcomments]

Abortion is wrong. Fetuses have souls and killing them is the same as killing anyone else; this is the very worst of sins. Certainly if you ask any good Catholic, or Pope Benedict himself, they will tell you this is so!

Unless of course, the pregnancy results from rape, then you%u2019ll find most devout believers will make an exception. In the case of a rape, abortion is acceptable, the vast majority of Christian folks will agree. From this, we can conclude that little babies conceived from a rape have no souls. I can't imagine any Catholic supporting abortion rights for rape victims would contest this rather obvious conclusion. If they would claim babies from rape do have souls and at the same time say it's ok to abort them... that would be hypocritical, no? We all know religious people are never, ever, hypocritical, so there we have it again, scientific proof. Babies conceived from a rape have no souls.

Oh but *** it, perhaps we%u2019ve gone astray%u2026 the Pope has shown us the way! All fetuses have souls and should be born into the world. Why would the fact that the mother is a 12 year old rape victim that will likely die in childbirth make any difference? How could we have cared for her well being??? There%u2019s a mass of fetal cells at stake here people! Now we%u2019ve seen the light! Hooray!! Gimmie a P! Gimmie an O! Gimmie an O!! oh, mean a P!!...

[rushman71]

jerryomara: If you don't like it or don't want to hear it, turn the chanel, read a book, go pet a monkey. But just because you don't like it, for your information, millions of others do. This is America; remember the First Amendment.

[rushman71]

jerryomara: If you don't like it or don't want to hear it, turn the chanel, read a book, go pet a monkey. But just because you don't like it, for your information, millions of others do. This is America; remember the First Amendment.

[juliemd]

The Church and its Pope have to extend their influence into Third world countries. That is where the most vulnerable humans dwell...I feel like the Church just uses these people to continue its control by fear...
My prayer is that humans will awaken to the God within and not feed off the Pope as a God. Icky.

[jdubs63]

Calling the Pope a creature....... how disrespectful no matter. If his teachings bother everyone so much then why are you reading the article...pass it up. Remember respect for fellow beings not matter...

[randalds]

That is the Pope's right and it is his right to force his views on all Catholics. If you are a Catholic and don't agree, leave the church and find a religion more to your liking. Don't knock the Pope for doing his job. I was Catholic, but no longer. I followed my own advice and stopped my own hypocrisy.

But the Pope needs to realize that is where his power and influence ends. If he thinks he can force his agenda on politicans in free countries; then expect politicans to beleive they can take the same liberties with church doctrine. Take care of your flock, but leave the rest of us to our own conscience.
Posted by afmca at 02:39 PM : May 10, 2007

Couldn't agree more! I was raised Catholic, but now I'm an atheist, which is my right. I just wish other so-called religious "leaders" here in the US would keep their da*nmed noses out of politics too!

[grazinggoat]

Let this creature get married and let him have kids of his own and let his kids have the kids, crippled ones amnong others.... He thinks it's an easy thing to raise them.

He reminds me of the guys over this blog who talk of going to war but would never enlist in the armed forces.

[susanhelit]

Wonder where the excommuication is for those supporting the death penalty? That's no 'natural death'. And interestingly, they don't seem to reject jailhouse conversions of murderers.



As always - the church is obsessed with controlling your *** life. Poverty, the death penalty - all far less important than keeping *** from marrying and women from using birth control and being able to have an abortion.

[alimech]

The richest 'enity' (as opposed to 'person') is the RCC/Vatican. The Pope wants to save all the ill-conceived and unwanted babies -- let him sell off the baubles in the basement and use the money to 'save' them...and raise them and send them to college. HA!

Most religious teachings are about control. "If you do this or that, you will go to hell." That is why the Council of Constantinople in 553CE rejected the idea of re-incarnation. "IF anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema." If people thought they might have 'another chance', the would not listen to the Church's teachings and laws.

A woman should have control of her oun body, and the decision of abortion should be between her, her God and her doctor.

[afmca]

That is the Pope's right and it is his right to force his views on all Catholics. If you are a Catholic and don't agree, leave the church and find a religion more to your liking. Don't knock the Pope for doing his job. I was Catholic, but no longer. I followed my own advice and stopped my own hypocrisy.

But the Pope needs to realize that is where his power and influence ends. If he thinks he can force his agenda on politicans in free countries; then expect politicans to beleive they can take the same liberties with church doctrine. Take care of your flock, but leave the rest of us to our own conscience.

[vet999999]

"the promotion of respect for life from the moment of conception until natural death as an integral requirement of human nature."

Does that include child molestation and rape....great job pope.