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Group Funded by Canadian Bishops' D&P Joins with Others to Denounce the "Natural Family" and "Family Rights"

Says pro-family legislation is "fundamentalist" and that families are products of social evolution

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent

PUEBLA, MEXICO, July 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Mexican organization that receives tens of thousands of Canadian dollars annually from the Canadian Catholic bishops Development & Peace organization, added its name to the list of organizations and individuals endorsing a statement denouncing the concept of the "natural family" and urging the state of Puebla not to protect family rights in the state's constitution.

The statement endorsed by the D&P funded group also objects to a proposed amendment to protect the right to life "from the moment of conception."

The organization, known as "Comaletzin," has its name included in the endorsements of a statement that was published in March of this year in the Mexican newspaper Cambio, which states that "we subscribe to the broad concept of families that…is contained in the Mexico City Declaration, in which it is determined that families are not part of a natural process, but the 'product of historical and cultural evolution of distinct societies.'"

"It therefore seems to us to be fundamentalist and doctrinaire to speak of only one model of the family, and based on this concept, of the 'rights of the family," to leave out of the Constitution of Puebla all other forms of family organization, such as all of the those that exist in the reality of our state," the statement continues.

Comaletzin received $32,000 from the bishops' Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P) in the 2007-2008 year.
 
The signed protest was directed against a proposed amendment to the constitution of Puebla which states: "The Government recognizes the family as the primary, natural, and fundamental group, which constitutes a political and social unit that promotes the teaching and transmission of cultural, ethical, and social values necessary for the development of the different generations that comprise it."

The statement also objects to language proposed for the state's constitution that would protect the right to life from conception, an idea vigorously opposed by Comaletzin.

"We ask the legislators [of Puebla]: When did you consult experts on these topics to define in the initiative that human life begins in the moment of conception?" the signers ask.

"The constitutional reform, disguised as protection for the family, seeks fundamentally to criminalize women who interrupt their pregnancy even when it is the product of a rape," complains the statement.  The text of the reform, which ultimately passed despite Comaletzin's opposition, does not provide criminal penalties for women who obtain abortions.

As LifeSiteNews reported in April, Comaletzin and other D&P funded organizations have repeatedly involved themselves in campaigns to prevent the passage of pro-life amendments to state constitutions in Mexico.

Ofelia Pastrana, the group's General Coordinator, also told LifeSiteNews in a recent interview  that Comaletzin sought to obtain legal permission for an abortion for a woman afflicted with Down Syndrome. In addition, the group promotes the use of contraceptives, contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Seven other D&P funded groups have been involved to varying degrees in pro-abortion, pro-contraception, anti-family, and anti-Catholic activities in Mexico, and numerous other D&P partners are involved in similar activities in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, according to previous reports  by LifeSiteNews.

However, despite the evidence contained in numerous newspaper accounts, telephone interviews, public statements, and the groups' own websites, D&P has not yet acknowledged that any of its partners advocate such positions.

Contact Information:

Contact information for every Canadian bishop

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
2500 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1H 2J2
E-mail: cecc@cccb.ca
Phone: (613) 241-9461
Fax: (613) 241-9048

Related Links:

Click here for all LifeSiteNews coverage of the D&P scandal  

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