NEW SOLIDARITY AGAINST THE CULTURE OF DEATH

     Late last week, the Synod fathers also turned their attention to the problem of confronting an ever more aggressive "culture of death." In concrete terms, the bishops of Latin America asked for help from their Northern Catholic neighbors, to stop the flow of contraceptive devices and pro-abortion propaganda which is steadily flowing into their societies.

      In the last twenty years the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has invested $4 billion in the promotion of all sorts of demographic control. This money comes from the taxes Americans pay to their government. Of 260 million Americans, 60 million are Catholic.

      This situation calls for a very concrete strategy of solidarity among the churches of the two hemispheres of the continent. The bishops of Latin America lack the means of solving this situation. Nevertheless, they can count on the valuable help of their brothers in the United States, who represent millions of United States citizens and who can effectively pressure political leaders in Washington to defend the rights of their brothers in the South.

      In this way, the Church will achieve what Archbishop Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, called for when he asked the Synod for America to not leave the Pope alone in defending the right to life and the rights of the family. This united action would also be a concrete way to live solidarity.

November 25, 1997 volume 8, no. 38         DAILY CATHOLIC