Philippines Catholic Archbishop Will Deny Communion to Pro-Abortion Pols

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 14, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Philippines Catholic Archbishop Will Deny Communion to Pro-Abortion Pols

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 14
, 2008

Manila, Philippines (LifeNews.com) — One of the leading Catholic officials in the Philippines says he will deny communion to pro-abortion politicians. The decision comes at a time when American Catholics are confronting another pro-abortion presidential candidate and calls to oppose him because he’s out of step with the Church.

Archbishop Jesus Dosado of Ozamiz city released a pastor letter on Sunday saying that Catholic politicians there who promote overturning the nation’s pro-life laws against abortions should not receive communion.

The letter instructs parish priests to deny the sacrament to the pro-abortion politicians until they reverse their position favoring abortion.

According to an AP report, the letter covers all of the churches within Dosado’s archdiocese.

It also featured comments from another Filipino archbishop Oscar Cruz, who said that the nation’s archbishops haven’t come together on a collective policy but he affirmed Catholic teachings allow Dosado to prohibit communion.

He talked about other people involved in abortions who may be prohibited from receiving communion as well.

"The question is, who are these people? Naturally the mother, the father, the abortionist, the nurse, the doctor," he told AP. "But the one who passed the law allowing abortion, definitely those persons are cooperators."

The Philippines has been under constant pressure from abortion advocates and the United Nations to legalize abortion and both have claimed that women are dying from the illegal abortions that occur there.

A representative of the United Nations Population Fund told the Filipino government in May 2007 that it should ditch its pro-life laws.

Suneeta Mukherjee, UNFPA representative to the Philippines told the nation that it must do more to promote "women’s rights … including reproductive health and family planning.”

The UNFPA claims that about half of all of the pregnancies in the Philippines are unplanned and would like to do more to promote birth control usage there.

In March 2007, pro-life advocates in the country celebrated the defeat of a bill that would have prohibited families from having more than two children each. The bill would have imposed up to six months imprisonment for families not upholding a reproductive health care agenda.


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