Continuing our series on the Nigerian pro-life conference
held in Abuja, Nigeria, on June 5th and 6, we report that Nigeria's
Catholic bishops gave John Smeaton chief executive of the Society for the
Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), a standing ovation following his address
tough words at a dinner at the end of the first day of the conference
which was organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria.
Mr. Smeaton praised Nigeria's pro-family culture saying:
[…] “Nigeria’s true wealth […] can be found in its fertility
rate, which is more than five children per woman of child-bearing age, in
contrast to the UK's rate of less than two. That’s why many politicians and
institutions in powerful Western nations are afraid of Nigeria and want to
interfere with laws and policies which affect women and children in
particular."
Referring to the Nigeria's Catholic bishops Mr. Smeaton said:
"Nigeria's wealth is also reflected in the moral
leadership given by Catholic Church leaders in Nigeria. Your opposition in 2010
to the African Union’s pro-abortion Maputo Protocol, led by His Eminence John
Onaiyekan, the cardinal archbishop of Abuja, reverberated around the world ...
Earlier this year, you, the Catholic bishops of Nigeria publicly thanked
Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, for signing into law the Same Sex
Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2011".
Mr Smeaton continued:
"As a pro-life leader, as a Catholic parent, I am very
grateful to the Nigerian Catholic Bishops for your defence of our families. You
are following the example of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. Standing up
against the worldwide homosexual agenda is crucial for the protection of
children and it is a fundamental pro-life issue. Bishops around the world
should follow the Nigerian bishops' lead and speak out for strong policies
against the subversion of the truth and meaning of human sexuality."
Warning again about Western interference in Africa, Mr.
Smeaton said:
"The British Prime Minister, David Cameron has
threatened to withhold UK aid from poor countries that do not conform saying in
connection with the homosexual rights agenda, and I quote: 'British aid should
have more strings attached'." Just a few weeks ago, last April, Nigeria’s
permanent representative at the UN, Ambassador Joy Ogwu, came under attack from
International Planned Federation for opposing abortion on behalf of the
Nigerian delegation at the UN."
Pointing out that "the pro-life movement cannot defeat
the culture of death on our own", Mr Smeaton called for:
"pro-life organizations and the wider community [to] be
fortified by unequivocal, unyielding voices of Catholic Church officials and
bishops throughout the world. I implore all Catholic bishops throughout the
world to speak out clearly and categorically that politicians who vote for and
publicly support abortion legislation must publicly retract and refute the
position they have adopted before receiving Jesus Christ in Holy
Communion".
Mr Smeaton observed that:
"many leaders of faithful Christian and pro-life,
pro-family organizations have found" absoluteness "severely lacking
in Catholic leadership today ... In its place we have weakness and
compromise."
This lack of absoluteness on the teaching of Humanae Vitae
(Pope Paul VI's encyclical against contraception) has had a negative impact on
the pro-life fight, because "the use of contraception undermines respect
for the sanctity of human life from conception and makes abortion an
option", said Mr. Smeaton.
