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Civil disobedience endorsed
Prelate goes beyond a “conscience clause”
Archbishop Estanislao Karlic, president of the Argentine bishops’ conference, has said that Argentines would not be under any moral obligation to obey a new birth-control law that was approved by the House of Representatives and is now waiting for approval by the Senate.
“Laws must be in accordance with the well-being of the human person, that is the key condition for a law to be respected,” said Archbishop Karlic after the congress approved the law on sex and reproductive health. The new law requires public hospitals and the Social Security agency to provide non-permanent birth control to all women, including minors without their parents’ consent.
“If the law goes directly against true values then it is not a law, since an unjust law just ceases to exist,” said Archbishop Karlic.
The archbishop, regarded as a moderate in the episcopate, said that “any proposed law that alters the family as an institution will have a negative effect on society—even if it is intended to achieve what is believed to be a short-term good.”
“The role of parents over their children is a basic human right that cannot be subverted without grave consequences,” the archbishop added. Archbishop Karlic said that he was not calling for a revolt, but “for the natural disobedience paid to a law that is really not a law at all.”
Cardinal garners politician’s praise
Lauded for visit to AIDS hospice
The Argentine Minister of Health, Hector Lombardo, described the decision by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires to spend Holy Thursday at an AIDS hospital as “a significant signal.”
Cardinal Bergoglio arrived at the Francisco Muniz Hospital for Infectious Diseases where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 AIDS patient. The Mass that he celebrated there on Holy Thursday was attended by patients, nurses, doctors, volunteers, and relatives. “I come, following the footprints of our only master, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to express how close the Church is to those who must suffer the pain and discrimination,” the cardinal said. After the Mass, Cardinal Bergoglio and the hospital chaplain, Father Andres Tello Cornejo, brought the Eucharist to patients who were unable to attend the ceremony.
“Cardinal Bergoglio’s will to express his solidarity with AIDS victims in such an eloquent way is a courageous decision and a significant signal that brings hope to those who work on the behalf of AIDS victims,” said Lombardo.
Since he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, Cardinal Bergoglio has changed the tradition of celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in the cathedral. He visited this same hospital three years ago; last year, he visited the prison facility of Villa Devoto; and in 1999 he visited the Saint Joseph Refuge for the Homeless in Buenos Aires.