C
Christiano
Guest
The Brazilian government is trying to approve a National Human Rights Plan, but the document has been criticized by sectors of society, especially the Catholic Church. Among the controversial points of the plan are: supports a bill about civil union between same-sex partners; develops means to garantee the use of a social name by tranvestites and transexuals; ensures the right of adoption by gay partners; decriminalization of abortion, considering the autonomy of women to decide over their own bodies; prevents the use of religious symbols in public buildings (like city halls and the National Congress); establish mechanisms to ensure the free exercise of the various religious practices, ensuring the protection for their physical space and preventing manifestations of religious intolerance. There are other points regarding fortunes, agribusiness, agrarian reform, land invasion, media control, genetically modified organisms and the military dictatorship (1964-1985).
According to bishop José Benedito Simão, of the Diocese of Assis, in the Brazilian State of São Paulo, told local press that it would be a “lack of intelligence” of president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva not to immediately talk about the text of the National Human Rights Plan. Simão is responsible for the Committee for the Defense of Life of Regional South-1 of the Brazilian National Conference of Bishops (CNBB).
Simão also reaffirmed that he pretended to organize the other bishops for a colective manifestation agains the original form of the plan and insist in a formal positioning by CNBB about the matter.
“It’s an in-depth subject, that envolves various sectors of society and that’s precisely why this can’t be isolated. The plan is being undemocratic and biased. Lula, who is in the end of his term, doesn’t have to leave this bomb to the next government, he must work this out”, the bishop said.
In his opinion, the text need to be revised so it can really contemplate the rights of everyone. “It would be stupid to carry it [the plan] out as it is, because if this proposition is causing problems inside the government itself, that’s because something’s wrong. They have to give better atention to society, to representatives of all segments, without grafter interest because it concerns society itself”, the bishop considers.
The plan caused a rift inside the government. It was criticized by the minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, by ruralist congressmen and the minister of Agriculture, Reinhold Stephanes.
About the proposition that decriminalizes abortion, Simão insists that the Church is favorable to life in all its circumstances. “We are against this plan precisely because we defend full and abundant life”, he says.
The bishop also criticizes the propositions of civil union by same-sex partners and the garantee of the right of adoption by homossexual partners and he scolds the lack of concernment, stimulus and participation in the life of families by the government, “which should worry about everything, about the poorest ones, that suffer with unemployment, alcoholism and lack of structure”. “Family is the cell of the social web and, therefore, sane family means sane society, while unhealthy family is a sign of unhealthy society”, he says.
“What kind of harm do religious symbols carry?”, the bishop asks. For him, amid the diversity of religious options that develop actions in favor of peace, the symbols are instruments that help in this proposition. “They [the symbols] speak a lot in formal society; they are a force of education among young people for the experience and practice of peace that has been repleaced by violence and drug trafficking in public schools in big capital cities, for example”, he defends. “It’s not the symbols that will disrupt education, but the absense of public policies that benefit the poorest”, he says.
For him, Brazilian leaders are are getting into a field that’s not essencial, priority, seeming to escape from bigger problems. It lacks effective presence of government in more important matters", he complains.
About changes to me made on mediation between landless movements and land owners, the bishop defends the creation of public stimulus through an agrarian policy, what never existed in Brazil, according to him. “I don’t think the government has to go out distributing land, but it can improve his situation, proposing, for example, conditions for the use of this land and having control of the situation. On the agrarian matter, however, the government is irresponsable and uncompromised”, he evaluates.
“We’re not against the government, but against this project of the current government. We recognize he made great things for the country, but we can’t accept everything; we have partnerships, but this doesn’t mean we’ll be quiet. The church is prophetic, an expert in humanity, since, in more than 2000 years of existence, we went through many regimes and governments. We don’t help staying silent, but also putting ourselves contrary to situations that we don’t agree with”, he clarifies.
The Catholic Church, while supporting viable and effective democracy and worried with life in all aspects, calls the “people of God” to think and position themselves about this debate, in an exercise of citizenship, as the bishop suggests.
His proposition, as the person responsible for the Comittee in Defense of Life, is to better articulate actions of disavowal to the measures carried out by the human rights plan that dissatisfy the Catholic Church with the help of CNBB.
According to bishop José Benedito Simão, of the Diocese of Assis, in the Brazilian State of São Paulo, told local press that it would be a “lack of intelligence” of president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva not to immediately talk about the text of the National Human Rights Plan. Simão is responsible for the Committee for the Defense of Life of Regional South-1 of the Brazilian National Conference of Bishops (CNBB).
Simão also reaffirmed that he pretended to organize the other bishops for a colective manifestation agains the original form of the plan and insist in a formal positioning by CNBB about the matter.
“It’s an in-depth subject, that envolves various sectors of society and that’s precisely why this can’t be isolated. The plan is being undemocratic and biased. Lula, who is in the end of his term, doesn’t have to leave this bomb to the next government, he must work this out”, the bishop said.
In his opinion, the text need to be revised so it can really contemplate the rights of everyone. “It would be stupid to carry it [the plan] out as it is, because if this proposition is causing problems inside the government itself, that’s because something’s wrong. They have to give better atention to society, to representatives of all segments, without grafter interest because it concerns society itself”, the bishop considers.
The plan caused a rift inside the government. It was criticized by the minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, by ruralist congressmen and the minister of Agriculture, Reinhold Stephanes.
About the proposition that decriminalizes abortion, Simão insists that the Church is favorable to life in all its circumstances. “We are against this plan precisely because we defend full and abundant life”, he says.
The bishop also criticizes the propositions of civil union by same-sex partners and the garantee of the right of adoption by homossexual partners and he scolds the lack of concernment, stimulus and participation in the life of families by the government, “which should worry about everything, about the poorest ones, that suffer with unemployment, alcoholism and lack of structure”. “Family is the cell of the social web and, therefore, sane family means sane society, while unhealthy family is a sign of unhealthy society”, he says.
“What kind of harm do religious symbols carry?”, the bishop asks. For him, amid the diversity of religious options that develop actions in favor of peace, the symbols are instruments that help in this proposition. “They [the symbols] speak a lot in formal society; they are a force of education among young people for the experience and practice of peace that has been repleaced by violence and drug trafficking in public schools in big capital cities, for example”, he defends. “It’s not the symbols that will disrupt education, but the absense of public policies that benefit the poorest”, he says.
For him, Brazilian leaders are are getting into a field that’s not essencial, priority, seeming to escape from bigger problems. It lacks effective presence of government in more important matters", he complains.
About changes to me made on mediation between landless movements and land owners, the bishop defends the creation of public stimulus through an agrarian policy, what never existed in Brazil, according to him. “I don’t think the government has to go out distributing land, but it can improve his situation, proposing, for example, conditions for the use of this land and having control of the situation. On the agrarian matter, however, the government is irresponsable and uncompromised”, he evaluates.
“We’re not against the government, but against this project of the current government. We recognize he made great things for the country, but we can’t accept everything; we have partnerships, but this doesn’t mean we’ll be quiet. The church is prophetic, an expert in humanity, since, in more than 2000 years of existence, we went through many regimes and governments. We don’t help staying silent, but also putting ourselves contrary to situations that we don’t agree with”, he clarifies.
The Catholic Church, while supporting viable and effective democracy and worried with life in all aspects, calls the “people of God” to think and position themselves about this debate, in an exercise of citizenship, as the bishop suggests.
His proposition, as the person responsible for the Comittee in Defense of Life, is to better articulate actions of disavowal to the measures carried out by the human rights plan that dissatisfy the Catholic Church with the help of CNBB.
