The Imminent Abortion Legalization in Brazil: the Pope Has Spoken… That It Was Not Necessary to Speak!

By Julio Severo

The international media has been in frenzy about pope’s statements on homosexuality. Usually, when Christians speak about homosexual issues, the media do not forgive: the barrage of attacks is endless. I have been a victim of such attacks, and I have written many articles defending (Catholic and Protestant) Christians under such attacks.

In the pope’s case, there were no attacks. Apparently, some of his words were misrepresented. But, overall, he was celebrated by the international press.

I will not focus on the controversy of his remarks about homosexuality and how reporters have chosen to see it. I am not concerned about what the pope said after his trip to Brazil. My concern involves what he did not speak in Brazil.

During his trip, my Catholic pro-life friends were desperately trying to get to the pope to ask his special assistance against a pro-abortion bill which was passed in the Brazilian Congress recently. Was the pope’s visit providential to help the pro-life cause?

I wrote two recent articles on the pope and abortion in Brazil. One of them said that “socialist Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is about to sign into law a pro-abortion bill, and the pope did not address any specific message about this urgent situation in Brazil. He left Brazil without speaking up against this imminent threat.”

Why did not he speak? Did not he know it? There were many doubts among Brazilian pro-lifers, including me.

After my last article on the pope and abortion in Brazil, a Catholic friend in Norway sent me a reliable original Spanish answer by the pope about this specific issue, published in the prominent Catholic news site AciPrensa. The pope gave this significant answer in his flight back from Brazil. The translated into English was published by CatholicVote:

Journalist: Brazilian society has changed, young people have changed. You have not spoken about abortion nor about marriage between people of the same sex. In Brazil they have approved a law that extends abortion rights and another one that allows marriage between people of the same sex. Why have you not spoken about that?

Pope Francis: The Church has clearly spoken about that, it is not necessary to go over it again, as it’s not necessary to talk about fraud, lying or other things about which the church has a clear doctrine. It is not necessary to talk about that, but about positive things that open the road for the young ones. Besides, young people know perfectly well what is the Church’s position about this.

So probably the pope knew about the abortion bill that Rousseff is about to sign into law. If he did not know before, he learnt about it when he left Brazil and was interviewed. His answer was just “The Church has clearly spoken about that, it is not necessary to go over it again.”

As an evangelical Christian involved for more than twenty five years in the pro-life movement, I know it. Through Pope John II, especially his excellent encyclical The Gospel of Life, the Catholic Church has clearly spoken on the defense of life.

Other Catholics have also spoken magnificently on behalf of life. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in a prayer breakfast with former President Bill Clinton, rebuked him for his pro-abortion stance some twenty years ago.

Clinton was a Baptist. Yet, even not being a Catholic, he knew the universal Christian teaching, which is essentially pro-life. Did not Mother Teresa need to rebuke him because “The Church has clearly spoken about that, it is not necessary to go over it again”?

So, because Brazil is the largest Catholic nation in the world, did not the pope need to address directly the abortion issue with the Brazilian people and Rousseff because “The Church has clearly spoken about that, it is not necessary to go over it again,” even though she is about to sign it into law?

By the way, Catholic pro-lifers in Brazil should not also address directly the abortion issue with Rousseff and the Brazilian Congress because “The Church has clearly spoken about that, it is not necessary to go over it again.”

Yes, the Catholic Church has clearly spoken about this issue. The Gospel of Life is a proof. But is not it necessary to address it directly to a president who is about to sign abortion in law? Is not it necessary to preach the Gospel of Life over and over and over?

I do not know what my pro-life Catholic friends will now do, but I will keep preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who came to give abundant life.

Portuguese version of this article: A iminente legalização do aborto no Brasil: o papa falou… que não era necessário falar!

Source: Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com

Recommended Reading:

The Pope, Homosexuality and Abortion in Brazil

The Pope and Abortion in Brazil