I deny the news report aired in TV network this evening that I threatened President Aquino with excommunication in the interview with Radio Veritas this morning. While the prevailing... ...sentiment of a number of bishops was that of dismay and frustration over the reported stance of the President regarding artificial contraceptives, imposition of the canonical sanction has not been contemplated by the CBCP.
I stated that the initial approach of this issue is to be in the spirit of dialogue and not of confrontation. Threat of excommunication at this point of time can hardly be considered to be in line with dialogue. I maintained that the traditional position of the Church is that human life starts at conception and not at implantation. Some contraceptive pills and devices are abortifacient. Any completed act to expel or kill the fertilized ovum is considered to be an act of abortion.
I went on to say that the penalty of excommunication is meted out to the principals and accomplices of abortion when certain conditions are verified. Canon Law and Morals demand that the sanction is imposed under moral immutability of the sinner. The Church intervenes in this issue because this is a moral question. Among other things this concerns the right to life particularly of the unborn child in the mother’s womb. The bishops support the initiatives of the laymen to protest the passage of the RH bill. When asked whether the bishops will participate in mass action, I replied that we would be considering our options what steps to take when we have to cross the bridge.
+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, DD,
Bishop of Tandag, CBCP President
30 September 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment