Puerto Rican bishops encourage participation in march against gender ideology

By Cynthia Perez for CNA

nito via Shutterstock.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug 5, 2021 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

The bishops in Puerto Rico have encouraged participation in a march against gender ideology, a citizen initiative in response to the upcoming launch of the “gender perspective curriculum” announced by the territorial government.

The Puerto Rican bishops’ conference encouraged the island’s laity “with complete freedom and in the exercise of their rights as citizens, freely to discern their participation” in the “march against the imposition of gender ideology” in a July 26 statement.

The bishops said they support parents and lay faithful, who, “making use of their natural right” and with “the freedom they have, to strongly express, always peacefully, their concern and their demands regarding this imposition, more ideological than scientific”, decide to “participate in the context of their legitimate right, in the march against the imposition of gender ideology.”

The march is to be held Aug. 14.

The Life and Family Coalition has called on the population to join the territorial demonstration that seeks to “stop the ‘gender’ dictatorship in Puerto Rico.”

The initiative arose after Governor Pedro Pierluisi issued an executive order to implement in public schools an updated version of the “Gender Perspective curriculum,” created by the administration of former Governor Alejandro García Padilla, which was rejected by the people of Puerto Rico in public marches in 2015.

The bishops pointed out that Christians are also citizens who need to “enjoy adequate freedom and the facilities provided by the state,” and therefore, they have the same right and capacity as everyone to “claim from the legitimate authorities of the same state, their right to live and act in accordance with their convictions and their conscience.”

The Puerto Rican bishops stressed that parents and the faithful have the legitimate right to be able to educate their children “without being subjected in public schools to ideologies that directly attack their convictions and sensibilities.”

Finally, they asked the protesters to participate “without allowing themselves to be provoked, nor used by those who, even within the religious sphere, may have other agendas that lead to disrespect” to any person “due to their personal conditions, disability, origin, religion, affective tendencies.” This includes all kinds of “harassment, violence, insults and unjust discrimination.”

In December 2020 Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres of Arecibo asked Pierluisi to stop the imposition of gender ideology in the territory. In February Bishop Fernández expressed his opposition to bills 184 and 185 that seek to impose this ideology, and warned of religious persecution on the island.

Pierluisi, who took office Jan. 2 and is a member of the New Progressive Party and is affiliated with the Democratic Party on the US mainland, issued an executive order in January declaring the island to be in a state of emergency due to gender violence, and created the Committee for the Prevention, Support, Rescue and Education on Gender Violence and announced the implementation of the Gender Perspective curriculum.

Carmen Ana González Magaz, the president of the PARE Committee and Secretary of the Department of the Family, has announced that in August the gender perspective curriculum would be implemented in the island’s public schools. In July, González said the process will be postponed in order to first train the Department of Education and teachers on gender issues.

In response, the Life and Family Coalition Group said on its website that it will march “to bring a clear and strong message to those who make decisions in the executive and legislative branches”, so that “they desist from integrating the ideology of ‘gender’ in every educational effort, public policy, regulations, policies and laws. In particular those directed at minors, endangering our rights and freedoms.”


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


About Catholic News Agency 11968 Articles
Catholic News Agency (www.catholicnewsagency.com)

3 Comments

  1. I’m not understanding what the “danger” is here. From what I understand, the initiative merely promotes respect and tolerance of transgender people. That seems to be perfectly well within the church’s call to being welcoming, kind and charitable to everyone.

    • Teaching confused children that thye can change their gender at a whim, and subjecting them to invasive surgery and hazardous drug treatment that permanently disfigures their bodies, is child abuse. End of story.

    • That is what is falsely claimed that the program is about, but tragically that is not so, otherwise Catholics would be the first to support it. Irrational and evil gender ideology us proposed to be imposed on innocent children in order to destroy respect for marriage, the family, and even recognition of truth.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*