LIMA, Peru, June 3, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In anticipation of the presidential runoff on June 5 between Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori, the bishops of Peru have issued a statement calling for both “a respectful and harmonious electoral climate” and affirming the Church’s role in publicly promoting its teachings on life and the family.
In the statement posted on their website the bishops wrote: “In this decisive moment, we reaffirm the willingness of the Catholic Church – whose prime responsibility is to preach the Gospel of Christ died and Christ risen; to proclaim the defense of life from conception to natural death, and specify the value of the family as an essential part of society, – to cooperate for the historical, cultural and morale development of the country, as recognized by the Constitution of Peru.”
Abortion and gay marriage supporters in Peru have thrown their support behind Ollanta Humala from the Gana Peru party, whose platform includes “the full exercise of the sexual and reproductive rights of women, access to family planning methods, including oral emergency contraceptive, the legalization of abortion, and the right of all persons to choose their own sexual orientation.”
Carlos Polo, Director of the Latin American office of the Population Research Institute (PRI) reported that, “the entire pro-abortion and pro-gay block (of supporters) have been simultaneously posting messages on their Facebook pages against Keiko and in support of Ollanta.”
The Episcopal Conference of Bishops also addressed an appeal to the media to report on the election with “objectivity, impartiality and transparency.”
“We ask journalists and news media to inform with the utmost responsibility, differentiating their opinion from objectivity with regards to information. We invite you to exercise freedom of expression with impartiality and transparency, seeking truth, justice and common good,” the bishops wrote.
The statement, signed by Mgr. Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, Metropolitan Archbishop of Trujillo and President of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, and Mgr. Lino Panizza Richero, Bishop of Carabayllo and General Secretary of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, concluded by urging citizens to maintain a “respectful, tolerant and harmonious electoral climate, to facilitate the right and duty to vote freely.”