VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope John Paul II has decried attempts to impose “morally unacceptable” types of family planning and reproductive health measures on Asian countries such as India.
Speaking on June 3 to a group of bishops from central and western India, he also warned that India “finds itself caught in the movement toward a culture of death”, particularly citing the “menacing threats” directed at unborn children, especially girls.
He encouraged the bishops to respond by fearlessly preaching the Church’s teaching on sexual morality and the inviolable right to life of every innocent human being.
The bishops were in Rome for their ad limina visits, which heads of dioceses make every five years to report on local Church conditions.
In a three-page speech, the pontiff said people in India had been led to justify immoral sexual activity “under the guise of freedom, which in turn has resulted in a commonplace acceptance of the contraceptive mentality”.
“The consequences of such irresponsible activity not only threaten the institution of the family but also contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS, which is reaching epidemic proportions in parts of your country,” he said.
In response, the Church must proclaim “that true love is Christian love, and Christian love is chaste love”, the Pope said.
