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_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Columbia_______________
Conscientious objection backed
Colombian bishops act unanimously
The Catholic hierarchy in Colombia has warned doctors, medical practitioners, and judges who participate in or authorize abortions that they may face excommunication. In a letter signed by all of the country’s bishops, Colombians were called on to practice conscientious objection if necessary, and to refuse to participate in the “abominable crime of abortion.”
“Believers have valid and lawful reasons for conscientious objection. That means that women, doctors, and even judges can excuse themselves from participating in this type of crime, because their beliefs do not permit it,” the bishops wrote.
Last month, the Colombian Supreme Court ruled that abortion “in those cases where the woman has been a victim of violence, rape, or non-consensual artificial insemination” is not punishable under law. The bishops said they would take steps to have the new law declared unconstitutional.
Attack and response
Worship as an answer to terror
Some 400 members of the Marxist rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked the town of San Juan de Arama on August 23, destroying the local Catholic church, as well as a Church-run day-care center.
FARC members attacked the town, located in the violence-torn region of Meta, with heavy weapons and gas cylinders used as highly destructive bombs. Two people died, and 41 were injured; the attack utterly destroyed the local parish buildings, including the day-care center, and 25 nearby homes. “Those most affected by the attack are the poorest people, whom they (the rebels) claim to represent,” remarked the pastor, Father Darinel Mejia.
One week later, Auxiliary Bishop Dario Monsalve Mejia of Medellin celebrated a Mass at the site of a terrorist bombing. “We have chosen this site to celebrate this Mass as a way to show that a call for peace and reconciliation can sprout in the same place where hatred brought destruction and unrest,” Bishop Monsalve said during his homily.
“Just as the Real Presence of Christ is made manifest here, the acts of destruction show how those who choose violence have no reasonable, articulated, peaceful proposals whatsoever,” added the bishop. With no church building available, the altar for the open-air Mass was placed in front of the scorched doors of Radio Caracol, Colombia’s most important private radio network, which was apparently the main object of the bombing.
Back to Catholic World Report October 2001 Table of Contents