BRUSSELS, May 1, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Political leaders from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and the United Kingdom have given their support to a campaign by the anti-Catholic group “Catholics for a Free Choice” (CFFC). In an advertisement appearing April 25th in the European Voice newspaper, 29 of the more than 600 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) signed their support for the condoms4life campaign. The advertisement states, “Catholic bishops preach sanctity of life. But their ban on condoms contributes to the tragedy of AIDS and death around the world. Most Catholics disagree with this policy. Yet the Catholic bishops who control 100,000 hospitals and 200,000 other social services worldwide ban both education about and the provision of condoms in their institutions.”
The advertising campaign is part of an unprecedented worldwide attack by the militant pro-abortion organization against the Church and its traditional Christian moral teachings. Roadside panels stating, “Catholic People Care-Do The Bishops? Banning Condoms Kills” are now up in prominent locations throughout Brussels. Similar ads appeared as billboards or newspaper advertisements in Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the United States and Canada. The CFFC says the ads will be in a dozen countries over the course of 2002. CFFC describes its “education effort” as the “first phase of a sustained mobilizing effort to change the Vatican’s policy against availability and access to condoms.”
The following quotes from the CFFC release on the campaign, demonstrate the disrespect for Catholicism held by some of the MEPs who signed on to the campaign as well as UN leaders who are involved in the issue: – Ulla Sandbaek, MEP for Denmark, stated: “As a Lutheran pastor, I find it in complete contradiction to the Gospel to pursue a policy which is killing people. Making any kind of law and order out of the Gospel is perverting it and a very illuminating example of that is the Vatican’s policy on condoms. Christ’s only concern was compassion and love, and I believe he would be horrified about the position of a church that says it is acting in his name today.” – Lissy Gröner, German MEP, said, “I think it is appalling that the bishops abandon their faithful and expose them to the risk of dying from AIDS.” – UNAIDS Director Peter Piot stated in June 2001, “When priests preach against using contraception, they are committing a serious mistake which is costing human lives. We do not ask the church to promote contraception, but merely to stop banning its use.”
The MEPs listed as having signed on to the campaign include: Ms. Ann Van Lancker (BELGIUM, PES), Ms. Ulla Sandbaek (DENMARK, EDD), Ms. Heidi Amelie Hautala (FINLAND, Verts/ALE), Ms. Geneviève Fraisse (FRANCE, GUE/NGL), Ms. Danielle Auroi (FRANCE, Verts/ALE), Ms. Lissy Gröner (GERMANY, PES), Ms. Karin Junker (GERMANY, PES), Mr. Alexandros Alavanos (GREECE, GUE/NGL), Ms. Anna Karamanou (GREECE, PES), Ms. Mary Banotti (IRELAND, EPP), Ms. Fiorella Ghilardotti (ITALY, PES), Ms. Marieke Sanders-Ten-Holte (NETHERLANDS, ELDR), Ms. Lousewies Van der Laan (NETHERLANDS, ELDR), Ms. Dorette Corbey (NETHERLANDS, PES), Ms. Joke Swiebel (NETHERLANDS, PES), Mr. Joaquim Miranda (PORTUGAL, GUE/NGL), Ms. Catherine Stihler (SCOTLAND, PES), Mr. Fernando Fernández Martínez (SPAIN, EPP), Ms. Rosa Miguélez Ramos (SPAIN, PES), Ms. Francisca Sauquillo (SPAIN, PES), Ms. Maria Sornosa Martínez (SPAIN, PES), Ms. Anna Terrón i Cusí (SPAIN, PES), Ms. María Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (SPAIN, PES), Baronness Sarah Ludford (UNITED KINGDOM, ELDR), Mr. David Bowe (UNITED! KINGDOM, PES), Mr. Robert Evans (UNITED KINGDOM, PES), Mr. Richard Howitt (UNITED KINGDOM, PES), Ms. Glenys Kinnock (UNITED KINGDOM, PES) and Mr. Terence Wynn (UNITED KINGDOM, PES).
View the advertisement that will appear in the European Voice here https://www.cath4choice.org/new/pressrelease/EuroVoice.pdf
See the CFFC press release: https://www.cath4choice.org/new/pressrelease/042502EUCondoms4Life.htm
For more on the CFFC and its US corporate foundation funding see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/feb/020206.html#1