Venezuelan bishops, religious sisters and laity call for free elections

San Luis, Argentina, Mar 24, 2021 / 07:19 pm (CNA).- A provincial judge in Argentina on Thursday declared the law legalizing elective abortion in the country unconstitutional. The ruling applies to the province, and must be ratified by higher courts.

Judge María Eugenia Bona issued the sentence March 18 in response to a suit filed by former senator Liliana Negre.

Negre had filed for an injunction against San Luis Province to end “the state of uncertainty” caused by the contradiction between articles contained in the abortion law and the Civil and Commercial Code.

Elective abortion was legalized in Argentina Dec. 30, 2020. Previously, Argentine law allowed abortion in cases when the mother’s life or health was in danger, or in cases of rape.

The former senator requested the prohibition of “the medical or clinical surgical practice of abortion” with the exception of those grounds that allow abortion in cases of rape or danger to the life or integral health of the mother.

The judge declared Article 19 of the Civil and Commercial Code, which recognizes the “existence of the human person from conception”, fully to be in force.

On this basis, she also declared unconstitutional several articles of Argentina’s abortion law, which permit elective abortion up to the fourteenth week of gestation, speak of the right to decide on abortion, of abortion care “in the services of the health system”; and about “post-abortion care in the services of the health system, without prejudice to the fact that the decision to abort would have been contrary to the cases legally authorized in accordance with this law.”

The judgement is in accordance with what is described in the Vienna Convention, the Human Rights Convention or the Pact of San José of Costa Rica; the National Constitution, and the Constitution of the Province of San Luis.

Bona noted that the law for the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents “gives precedence to the right of the child, in the face of a conflict.”

“It is worth wondering, because in the questioned law (of abortion), only the situation of women is defended, their rights … forgetting, for example, that this child has a father who may love him, that there are grandparents, who have an obligation of maintenance and may also love that grandchild. But they are the great absentees”.

Furthermore, according to the American Convention on Human Rights, “everyone has the right to have their life respected” and this right is protected by law and in general from the moment of conception: “no one can be arbitrarily deprived of life”.

Likewise, article 49 of the Provincial Constitution of San Luis says, “the state protects the human person from conception to birth and from this to full development.”

Bona also recalled the statements of the College of Lawyers and Attorneys of the Province of San Luis and the National Academy of Law, which questioned the abortion law even before its approval.

However, Negre explained to ACI Prensa that abortions will continue to be procured in the province as long as the sentence is not ratified. For this, she must go through several judicial instances until reaching the Supreme Court of Argentina.

The abortion law was an electoral promise by president Alberto Fernández, whose bill was debated in less than a month in both houses of Congress.

To reverse the law, some pro-life organizations and lawyers have filed writs of amparo to declare it unconstitutional, in provinces such as Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and Salta.

In addition, numerous statements of conscientious objection from doctors, health personnel, and clinics have been added.

[…]

Father Deacon Andrew Bennett addresses a fundraising breakfast for Catholic Pacific College in Langley Township, British Columbia, in December 2023. “Increasingly young adults see what the world is offering them, and they realize it’s not what t… […]

People walk by the entrance of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Anne in Port-au-Prince, Jan. 22, 2024. Eight people, including six nuns, were kidnapped Jan. 19 in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, according to the country’s association of religious orders, amid an ongoing upswing in abductions. / Credit: RICHARD PIERRIN/AFP via Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Jan 25, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The six Haitian religious sisters who were abducted on the morning of Jan. 19 in Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince were released Thursday morning. 

The release of the six nuns, along with their two drivers, was confirmed to Vatican News by Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor, the president of Haiti’s bishops’ conference, on Thursday. The nuns belonged to the St. Anne Congregation.

“We give thanks to God! Thank you for your support,” the bishop said to Vatican News. 

“This traumatic event has once again put our faith to the test, but it remains unshakable,” Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne said. 

“We cried out to God. He made us strong in our trials and brought our captives back to freedom,” Dumas continued. 

The Haitian outlet Rezo Nodwes reported that those responsible for the kidnapping had initially demanded a sum of $3 million in exchange for the release of the nuns and their driver. 

It is not yet clear on what conditions, if any, the hostages were released. 

The Bishops’ Conference of Haiti issued a statement on Jan. 22 denouncing the “heinous and criminal act” and the widespread violence that has gripped the capital city and the country. 

“These acts cause consternation among all citizens of goodwill; they dishonor their authors and tarnish the image of our country afflicted with so many repeated evils,” the statement read. 

The bishops went on to demand that the hostages be “unconditionally released” and demanded that those responsible “stop trampling on the inalienable dignity of God’s children.” 

“We call on the responsibility of leaders and remind them of their moral duty to ensure the security and protection of the lives and property of all citizens. On many occasions, the Church has denounced their silence, which amounts to an attitude of contempt for the suffering of the people,” the statement continued. 

The release of the hostages comes after Pope Francis made a plea on their behalf during last Sunday’s Angelus. 

“I have learned with sorrow of the kidnapping in Haiti of a group of people, including six religious sisters,” the pope said on Jan. 21

“In my heartfelt plea for their release, I pray for social concord in the country. And I invite everyone to bring an end to the violence, which is causing a great deal of suffering to that beloved population,” the Holy Father continued. 

On Jan. 24 the Haitian Bishops’ Conference along with the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince held a prayer vigil for the release of the hostages.

Haiti has been in the throes of political instability and rampant violence, including rape, killings, and mass kidnappings, since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, left a power vacuum in the already-fragile Caribbean country. 

Moïse faced charges of corruption and incompetence as well as calls to step down from opposition parties since his five-year term expired on Feb. 7, 2021. However, he refused to vacate the office, noting that the first year of his term coincided with an interim government. 

The capital city of Port-au-Prince has been the epicenter of widespread gang violence. According to a 2023 United Nations report, an estimated 80% of the capital is under gang control. The situation has deteriorated since acting Prime Minister and President Ariel Henry assumed office on July 20, 2021, on the basis that some, including Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, Jimmy Cherizier, say that Henry lacks a political mandate. 

[…]