The leader of the Referendum for Life initiative, Sara Castellanos, said the initiative already has the necessary signatures to request a popular consultation that protects the lives of the unborn in the Colombian constitution.
The goal of the promoters of Referendum for Life is to amend Article 11 of the country’s Magna Carta, which currently states that “the right to life is inviolable. There shall be no death penalty.”
If successful, that the right to life is inviolable “from conception” would be added to the constitutional article. To advance a referendum, it must have the support of 5% of Colombians eligible to vote, or 1.95 million of the 39 million voters.
In a statement to Semana magazine, Castellanos assured that the group has more than 2 million signatures to be presented on July 25 to the National Registrar’s Office for the purpose of its endorsement.
If the registrar’s office validates the necessary amount of signatures, the initiative will go to Congress to be debated and, if approved, a referendum will be held.
“What we want is that we do not fail to recognize that there is a life that must have a right to be born,” Castellanos said.
In 2006, the Constitutional Court of Colombia decriminalized abortion on the grounds of danger to the life of the mother, fetal deformities incompatible with life, and in cases of rape.
In February 2021, the court liberalized abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. After this time frame, abortion is decriminalized only under the conditions established in 2006.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Bishop-elect Erik Pohlmeier. / Courtesy of the Diocese of St. Augustine.
Vatican City, May 24, 2022 / 05:15 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Arkansas priest Father Erik Pohlmeier as the next bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Fl… […]
Pope Francis waves to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square during his Angelus address on June 25, 2023. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 25, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has urged Christians not to be afraid of suffering criticism, economic loss, and persecution for being faithful to what the Church teaches.
“There is a cost to remain faithful to what counts. The cost is going against the tide, freeing oneself from being conditioned by popular opinion, being separated from those who ‘follow the current,’” Pope Francis said on June 25.
In his Sunday Angelus address, the pope underlined how Jesus’ words “do not be afraid” still apply today. He reflected in particular on Jesus’ warning in the Gospel of Matthew: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Mt. 10:28).
Pope Francis said: “It was like saying: You do not need so much to be afraid of suffering misunderstanding and criticism, of losing prestige and economic advantages to remain faithful to the Gospel, but of wasting your existence in the pursuit of trivial things that do not fill life with meaning.”
Pope Francis gives his Sunday Angelus address on June 25, 2023. Vatican Media
The pope explained how Jesus told his disciples not to be afraid shortly after telling them about the persecutions that they would have to undergo for the Gospel, something, he noted, that still applies today.
“Since her beginning, in fact, the Church has experienced many persecutions, along with joys—of which there have been many. It seems paradoxical: the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is a message of peace and justice, founded on fraternal charity and on forgiveness; and yet it meets with opposition, violence, and persecution,” he said.
“Jesus, however, says not to fear, not because everything will be all right in the world, no, but because we are precious to his Father and nothing that is good will be lost.”
Pope Francis added that Jesus’ warning means that the only true fear one should have is of throwing one’s life away chasing things that do not ultimately matter.
“Even today, in fact, some are ridiculed or discriminated against for not following certain fads, which, however, place second-rate realities at the center – for example, to follow after things instead of people, achievement instead of relationships,” he said.
The pope gave the example of a priest or religious sister who dedicates his or her time to service, while forgetting to dedicate time to being with Jesus, falling into spiritual worldliness, or parents who spend all their time working to provide for their family without spending enough time with their children.
He added that young people can also get so caught up in sports, school, social media, and their cell phones that they focus too much of their time on “passing things.”
“All of this requires some renunciation regarding the idols of efficiency and consumerism. … Think of the least who are often treated like waste products and unwanted objects,” Pope Francis said.
“What matters is not to throw away the greatest good: life. This is the only thing that should frighten us,” he added.
After praying the Angelus prayer in Latin with the crowd gathered below in St. Peter’s Square, the pope gave a shoutout to volunteers with Radio Maria Italy who held up a long banner inviting everyone to place themselves “under the mantle” of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square held up a long banner inviting everyone to place themselves “under the mantle” of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Vatican Media
The pope said that he was saddened to learn of the prison riot in the Támara Women’s Penitentiary Center in Honduras earlier this week in which 46 inmates were killed.
“Terrible violence between rival gangs sowed death and suffering,” he said. “I pray for the deceased, I pray for the family members. May the Virgin of Suyapa, Mother of Honduras, help hearts open to reconciliation and make room for fraternal coexistence, even within prisons.”
“I would like to use this anniversary to express, once again, my closeness to the family members, especially her mother, and assure them of my prayers. I extend a remembrance to all families who bear the sorrow of a dear one who has disappeared,” he said.
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