The Spain-based group Right to Life added to increasing criticism of Father Carlos Novoa, calling the Colombian priest's support for abortion unacceptable.“There is no circumstance that can lead us to the conclusion that abortion can be a good,” the organization said on Nov. 22.
In several recent radio and television interviews, Fr. Novoa—who teaches at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota—defended the practice through his own interpretation of passages from John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” documents from Vatican II and canon law.
On Nov. 12, dozens of young people gathered on campus to protest Fr. Navoa's views. Human Life International president Father Shenan J. Boquet also weighed in on the controversy in a Nov. 17 statement underscoring that “there is absolutely no justification” for abortion in Church teaching.
“As we have been reiterating for years, nothing justifies the deliberate elimination of a human being,” Right to Life said. “The solution for a woman facing a difficult pregnancy is never to kill the child, but rather to offer her help and give her reasons for hope.”
“The people of Colombia should learn from the tragic experience of Spain, where legislation has led to an increasingly aging population of 45 million with more than 120,000 abortions annually,” the group said.