French Bishops respond to abortion being enshrined in the constitution

[Michie]

PARIS (OSV News) — French bishops called for fasting and prayer as abortion was enshrined in the constitution by an overwhelming 780-72 vote, accompanied by a standing ovation when the result was announced as the parliament met in Versailles.

After several months of legislative process, the French Congress, a special body composed of both chambers of parliament, revised the country’s 1958 constitution to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to abort in Article 34, making France the first country in the world to explicitly include the right to abortion in its constitution.

Bishops call for fasting and prayer​

French bishops called for “fasting and prayer” in a March 4 statement with the Pontifical Academy for Life releasing its own communique on the same day, saying, “There can be no ‘right’ to end a human life.”


Academy members lamented the debate over the bill in France “did not touch on support mechanisms for those who wish to keep their child” and added that the “protection of human life is humanity’s primary objective, and can only develop in a world free of conflict, where science, technology and industry are at the service of the human person and of fraternity.”

In a statement signed by Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the French bishops’ conference, and vice presidents Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours and Bishop Dominique Blanchet of Créteil, the bishops cried out that “of all European countries, even Western Europe, France is the only one where the number of abortions is not decreasing and has even increased over the last two years,” and that France “would have honored itself by instead promoting the rights of women and children.”

Attack on life​

Continued below.

French Bishops respond to abortion being enshrined in the constitution

French bishops called for fasting and prayer as abortion was enshrined in the constitution by an overwhelming 780-72 vote, accompanied by a standing ovation when the result was announced as the parliament met in Versailles.

www.oursundayvisitor.com

 

[RileyG]

Lord, have mercy on the French people and save all French babies

 

[Bob Crowley]

My old pastor who was almost always correct with his predictions thought Europe would go Moslem, most likely due to political and economic rather than religious conviction eg. an Arab oil embargo. The Vatican would move to South America where Spanish and Portuguese settlers took the faith centuries ago.

I think down the track that God might be turning most of Europe over to a harsher regime, but time will tell. It's certainly not the bastion of Christendom it was in the past.

As a footnote -

Islam in Europe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

France[edit]​

In France, there are an estimated 100,000 Muslim converts, compared with about 50,000 in 1986.[27] The population mostly originate from the Maghreb, and, France is home to a third of EU Muslims.[28] As of mid-2016, there are 5.7 million Muslims in France (8.8% of the population) and the Muslim population continues to grow.[25]

 

[Michie]

Vatican on France’s abortion amendment: There cannot be a ‘right’ to take a human life

“The Pontifical Academy for Life reiterates that precisely in the era of universal human rights, there cannot be a ‘right’ to take a human life,” the academy wrote.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

 

[DJWhalen]

Lord hear the prayers

 

[The Liturgist]

I think down the track that God might be turning most of Europe over to a harsher regime, but time will tell. It's certainly not the bastion of Christendom it was in the past.

Hungary is a bastion of traditional Catholicism and is also very friendly to Orthodox Christianity (the Metropolitan of Hungary is Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, who I greatly admire, who has a good personal relationship with Pope Francis).