SAO PAULO, Brazil – Pope Benedict XVI began his first trip to Latin America on Wednesday by laying down church law on abortion, suggesting he agrees with bishops who said Catholic politicians in Mexico excommunicated themselves by legalizing abortion in that nation’s capital.
Benedict, who will inaugurate an important regional bishops’ conference during his trip, also spoke strongly against abortion during his first speech in Brazil. Speaking in Portuguese, he said he’s certain that the bishops will reinforce “the promotion of respect for life from the moment of conception until natural death as an integral requirement of human nature.”
Hundreds of faithful waiting in the cold rain for a glimpse of Benedict seemed not to care about the major challenges the Vatican says he hopes to confront during his visit, such as the church’s declining influence in Brazil, the rise of evangelism, or his in-flight comments about Mexico City’s politicians.
Catholic officials have been debating for some time whether politicians who approve abortion legislation as well as doctors and nurses who take part in the procedure subject themselves to automatic excommunication under church law.
The pope was asked where he stands on the issue during the flight to Brazil, in his first full-fledged news conference since becoming pontiff in 2005.
“Do you agree with the excommunications given to legislators in Mexico City on the question?” a reporter asked.
“Yes,” Benedict replied. “The excommunication was not something arbitrary. It is part of the (canon law) code. It is based simply on the principle that the killing of an innocent human child is incompatible with going in Communion with the body of Christ. Thus, they (the bishops) didn’t do anything new or anything surprising. Or arbitrary.”
Church officials later said the pope might have thought the Mexican bishops had issued a formal declaration of excommunication for the legislators, something Mexican Cardinal Norberto Rivera has said he has no intention of doing.
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