PORTUGAL: Prestigious Catholic site Fatima Shrine throws its weight behind anti-abortion lobby ahead of February 11 referendum on the issue in the deeply Catholic country

Authorities of the prestigious Fatima Shrine in Portugal chose 'To Welcome Life As a Gift of God' as the theme of its anti-abortion campaign as the Shrine took on its monthly pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Fatima on the 13th day of the month. The deeply Catholic country will hold a referendum on February 11 to decriminalise abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy in legally authorised health establishments. In the lead-up to a referendum on abortion in February, Catholic Church authorities in Portugal chose 'To Welcome Life As a Gift' as the theme of its Anti-Abortion campaign as it took on its monthly Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fatima, built after Virgin Mary was reported to have appeared six times on the 13th day of each month from May to October on a hillside near the town in 1917. Portugal will hold a referendum on February 11 to decriminalise abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy in legally authorised health establishments. Portugal is one of a few countries in Western Europe where abortion is illegal, forcing pregnant women to cross the border to Spain for abortion. The country's Family Planning Association estimates thousands of illegal abortions take place every year in Portugal. "The liberalisation of abortion, even though it is disguised under the form of legislation, is not a dignified response to the matter. It is a way around the problem that does not tackle its roots, it is not the way towards progress, the way of the future and liberty," the Bishop of Fatima and Leiria, D. Antonio Marto told a crowd of about 10,000 pilgrims gathered at the Shrine of Fatima. "To You (Virgin Mary) we offer our confidence and prayer so that every human being, especially in our European continent, will respect every human life in all its stages, from the very first instance until death," he added. The number of Portuguese expected to vote in next month's referendum on abortion is rising, according to a recent poll, raising the likelihood the ban will be lifted in the deeply Catholic country. A poll carried out by local daily Publico showed that 62 percent of the Portuguese are expected to turn out in the referendum and that 67 percent of the electorate are in favour of lifting the ban. Just 33 percent of potential voters were against it. "I agree (with abortion) as a consequence of rape or if the baby has some sort of a problem," said a pregnant Marilio Afonso in Fatima. Sofia Nunes, sitting next to her four sons, disagreed. "I don't think anyone has the right to dispose of the life of others, only God. God is the one who can give life and can take it away from man," Nunes said. A 1998 referendum narrowly defeated decriminalising abortion but voter abstention was 68 percent, invalidating the result. On September 2004, Portugal banned a Dutch boat with an abortion clinic on board from entering its territorial waters. Portugal barred the ship belonging to the Women and Waves group because it offered an abortion pill in international waters to women in countries where it is illegal. In Fatima, the Dean of Fatima Sanctuary, Luciano Guerra said the answer to the ethical dilemma was an evident one for those in faith. "It is evident that if it is wrong, it is a crime. The degree of the crime depends on the conception each one has of the human life. But it is evident that it is a crime in our terminology. Those who have faith think it is a crime against God, it is also a crime against the human being," he said. Several thousand Christian pilgrims walk annually to the shrine of Fatima to mark the anniversary of the purported apparition of the Virgin Mary before three shepherd children in 1917. Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, who claimed she and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marta saw the Virgin on an oak tree on May 13, 1917, died on February 13, at the age of 97. Her cousins had died in an influenza pandemic in 1919 and 1920. The children claimed the Virgin appeared six times between the months of May and October 1917, each time on the 13th day of the month, and witnesses claimed an estimated 50,000 people saw bright lights and rainbow colours at her last appearance.

ITN Source | January 14, 2007

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