News

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent

RECIFE, Brazil, September 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Over sixty thousand Brazilians attended a pro-life rally held on Sunday by the Archbishop of Olinda e Recife, Fernando Saburido. The archbishop is a controversial figure due to statements he has made in recent months that appeared to contradict the Catholic Church's teaching on human life and family.

But in a speech delivered to the crowd, Saburido condemned the movement to legalize abortion in Brazil, which is being spearheaded by members of the ruling Labor Party, as well as other social problems currently troubling Brazilian society.

“Society is being irresponsible in the face of so many problems,” said Saburido.  “In this election year, people must be attentive to these politicians who are in favor of abortion and the death penalty.  All true Christians must defend life.”

The rally, which was the fourth annual Archdiocesan “Yes to Life!” march, was begun under the leadership of Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho, who retired from his leadership of the archdiocese following his strong defense of the lives of unborn twins of a young molestation victim who lived in the area. (See coverage here)

Cardoso Sobrinho was replaced by Saburido, who began to cause concern among Brazilian pro-lifers when he made remarks in April of this year that seemed to excuse an abortion performed on a minor in the archdiocese. “The decision is for the parents, who have all of the freedom to act in the way that they believe to be most convenient,” the archbishop said in a television interview.

Although Saburido issued a clarification following the interview in which he retracted his statements, he found himself embroiled in another controversy earlier this month, when Jorge Ferraz of the blog “Deus lo Vult” revealed that the archbishop had led a march under the banner, “The Cry of the Excluded” (Grito dos Excluídos), in which pro-abortion, homosexualist, and socialist organizations had freely participated.