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March 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P), which is currently on a Lenten fundraising drive in Catholic churches across Canada, has invited the leader of a pro-abortion Mexican “human rights” organization, which is also a D&P funding recipient, to speak at various parishes from March 30 to April 7.

According to D&P’s Share Lent website, Fr. Luis Arriaga, leader of the “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Center for Human Rights” (Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez), is scheduled to make appearances at various locations in eastern Ontario. On Saturday, April 2, Fr. Arriaga will speak at the Ottawa diocesan centre. Local Catholic pro-life activists will be holding a “protest and prayer” vigil outside the diocesan centre.

As LifeSiteNews has documented in previous reports, Fr. Arriaga and the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Center (PRODH) have been involved in abortion advocacy since at least 2005, signing numerous pro-abortion declarations and opposing a pro-life amendment to the constitution of the state of Jalisco.  However, this news agency has recently learned that both PRODH and Fr. Arriaga also personally support the pro-abortion organization “Catholics for the Right to Decide,” a group condemned by the Catholic Church for promoting the legalization of abortion and falsely claiming that killing the unborn is compatible with Catholic doctrine.

In November of 2010, after calling LifeSiteNews.com “nasty” for exposing his organization’s pro-abortion activities, Fr. Arriaga shared the stage at an award ceremony with Consuelo Mejía, director of Catholics for the Right to Decide, and the pro-abortion Marisa Belausteguigoitia of the University Program for Gender Studies (PUEG), applauding them both on their work. The award, named after the anti-Catholic feminist Hermila Galindo, was given by the Mexico City government’s Human Rights Commission, which simultaneously gave Arriaga a “special mention” certificate for his own work.

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The event is advertised on the PRODH website itself, where the organization says “The PRODH center congratulates [the Mexico City government] for this decision that supports the outstanding career of Consuelo Mejia and the PUEG in the defense of the rights of women and the promotion of gender equality.”  A photo of of a smiling Arriaga receiving the award with Mejía is shown on the site.  (NOTE: Following publication of this article, PRODH removed the page from their website. However, LSN captured the page in a PDF, which can be seen here)

In an article about the event published by the pro-abortion news service CIMAC, Arriaga is also quoted as saying that in the struggle for women’s rights, “we recognize the support of the activity carried out by Consuelo Mejía and the PUEG, who have taught us lessons about new types of human relations, for the consolidation of an egalitarian society.”

In the same article, Mejía comments that the award is important because it highlights the plight of women “who dare to exercise their right to decide over their bodies,” while PEUG representative Marisa Belausteguigoitia complains that “in 17 states of the republic, women are obligated to give birth in all circumstances.”

The event was not the first time Arriaga and PRODH have participated in the promotion of “Catholics for the Right to Decide.”  As LifeSiteNews reported in 2010, Arriaga was a panel speaker for the organization’s 15th anniversary celebration, according to the Mexican radio station Radio Bemba (see article in Spanish here.) The panels were organized “to reflect on the contribution of this organization [Catholics for the Right to Decide] to the defense of the human rights of women and girls and the challenges that churches have regarding the topic of sexual and reproductive rights,” according to the radio station.

A history of pro-abortion activism

As LifeSiteNews (LSN) has previously reported, Fr. Arriaga’s organization has signed its name to many pro-abortion declarations. In 2008 PRODH signed a public declaration, published in the Guadalajara newspaper Publico, which specifically denounced a proposed pro-life constitutional amendment because it “intends to recognize rights for the unborn, against what is established by our constitutional system,” and “would eliminate the right of the women of Jalisco to interrupt a pregnancy.”

The declaration in Spanish can be found here, and an English translation can be found here.

The organization also signed on to a number of other “human rights” declarations in between 2005 and 2009 that included statements advocating the decriminalization of abortion and the availability of abortion in public hospitals (see LSN coverage here  and here). It is also a member of the pro-abortion “All Rights for Everyone Network” (Red Todos los Derechos para Todos y Todas), which is an open supporter of Mexico City’s law legalizing and subsidizing abortion on demand during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The “All Rights for Everyone Network” includes the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Center’s name in its pro-abortion pronouncements.

Non-denial denials

After LSN first exposed the PRODH Center’s signature on two “human rights” declarations that included pro-abortion statements in March of 2009, the organization responded with a brief statement claiming it had signed the documents “with the intention of supporting the general cause of human rights in Mexico; not in order to specifically support the legalization of abortion.”  However, it did not confirm or deny that it is a supporter of legalized abortion.

Fr. Arriaga later gave an interview to the Catholic Register, the Toronto diocese’s official newspaper, in which he denounced LSN’s coverage as “nasty,” and said simply that his group is “not focused on sexual or reproductive rights. This is not our specialty. Our focus is on the defence and promotion of civil and political rights.”

As LSN revealed in a series of articles during 2009 and 2010, D&P has allocated millions of dollars to pro-abortion groups in various nations as part of its 2006-2011 plan.  Fr. Arriaga’s PRODH itself received $24,000 Canadian Dollars in 2007-2008 year according to D&P, and is still a funding recipient, despite the revelation of its pro-abortion activities.

Although in recent months the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has claimed that pro-abortion groups have been cut from funding, Arriaga’s speaking invitation and D&P’s continuing support for the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Center indicate that Development and Peace is continuing its policy of supporting pro-abortion organizations.

Locations of Fr. Arriaga’s speaking events scheduled at this time:

April 2, 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Conference Room, Diocesan Center
(protest scheduled)
1247 Kilborn Avenue, Ottawa
Click here for Google map

April 3, 9:00-11:30 am

St. Augustine Parish

1060 Baseline Road,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 0A6
Phone: (613) 225-7388
Fax: 613-225-6721
Web
Click here for Google Map of parish

April 3, 6:30 -7:30 PM (“Life Teen” mass)

Divine Infant Parish,
6658 Bilberry Drive
Orleans, ON, K1C 2S9
Phone: 613-824-6822
Fax: 613-834-7459
Website

Contact Information:

Contact information for every Canadian bishop

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
2500 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1H 2J2
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (613) 241-9461
Fax: (613) 241-9048

Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace
Phone: 514-257-8711
Email: [email protected]
Website

Note: see Composing Effective Communications in Response to LifeSiteNews Reports

Related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Development and Peace Funding of Pro-Abortion Groups 2009 / 2010