By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, at the World Encounter of Families in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY, January 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Mexico’s Social Democratic Party held a protest outside of the World Encounter of Families conference yesterday, denouncing the notion that a natural family consists of a permanent union between a man and a woman.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD), a small group of socialists that has three representatives in the Mexican Congress, made headlines recently when it threatened legal action against Mexico City’s Cardinal Archbishop Norberto Rivera for denouncing pro-abortion and anti-family legislation (see LifeSiteNews coverage at https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09011401.html).
The PSD’s explicit goal is to legalize abortion on demand throughout Mexico, as well as euthanasia, homosexual “marriage,” and the use of recreational drugs. The leadership claims that Rivera’s opposition to such initiatives violates Mexican law against campaigning outside of election season.
David Razu, a leader in the PSD who was present at the protest, told LifeSiteNews that 50 percent of Mexicans belong to families that are outside of the “model” of a husband and wife promoted by the World Encounter of Families. However, his statistic included “extended” two-parent families that live with other relatives, as well as husband-wife couples that do not have children. By the PSD’s own admission, only 9% of families in Mexico are single-parent.
Razu denounced Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s statements linking family breakdown to crime and violence, made at the conference yesterday, as “barbarities.”
Growing up in a single parent home, or a home led by homosexuals, “doesn’t affect children unless they are discriminated against” said Razu, who also stated his belief that Mexico’s increasing level of violent crime is caused by traditional families themselves, rather than family breakdown.
“The abuse of minors, abuse by the family itself is what causes that, not a divorced parent, not a divorced mother, not a parent who is homosexual or not,” said Razu. “We don’t believe that any of these things are the cause of violent situations or crime, but rather the situations that arise more often in typical nuclear families with a father, mother and children.”
Razu’s claims contradict major long-term studies conducted in the United States, which indicate that single-parent families tend to produce children who suffer from long term psychological, social, and economic problems, including higher rates of criminal activity.
In a recently-issued press release, Cardinal Rivera denied that he had ever attacked any political party, “much less the Social Democratic Party,” and added that Mexico’s Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, and therefore “censorship is not acceptable.”
“A servant (of the Church) has a clear mission, which is strictly pastoral, to give guidance to the Christian faithful in doctrinal and moral matters,” wrote Rivera.
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Related Links:
Parents or Prisons
https://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/3448276.html
Official Website of the Social Democratic Party of Mexico
https://www.psd.org.mx
Previous LifeSiteNews Coverage:
Mexican President Felipe Calderon Personally Opens International Pro-Family Conference in Surprise Move
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09011404.html