Seoul (AsiaNews) – Korean Catholics  “welcome the international moratorium against the death penalty” which however “must be immediately followed, as a logical consequence, by another moratorium against abortion.  It is a fact, not an opinion, that human like begins at the very moment of conception: and it must be defended from that very instant”.

 That is the message of Fr. Casimiro Song, Secretary of the Life 31 Movement of the Korean Bishops Conference to AsiaNews, joining card.  Gracias of Mumbai – ref. India lends’ its support for a moratorium against abortion  07/01/2008 – and AsiaNews in supporting the campaign launched by the Italian daily  Il Foglio (ref. Partial victory against the death penalty  19/12/2007).

Below we publish the full text of the declaration sent to us by Fr. Song.

We welcome the UN adoption of the moratorium on the death penalty, passed on December 17, 2007 and we think it is a logical conclusion to extend it to a moratorium on abortion. As matter of fact, human life begins from the very moment of the conception. Therefore without making concrete efforts to respect human life and protect it from that very moment any pro-life movement, any efforts to build a culture for life, and any movement to protect human life (including the  adoption of the moratorium on the death penalty!) sounds empty.

To give a direct example, the number of serious criminals executed every day is only a tiny proportion compared with the thousands of innocent human lives that are silently killed by abortion every day throughout the world.   

Therefore I give my full support to the launching of a worldwide movement aimed at a moratorium on abortion,  including the manipulation of embryonic stem cells for research, artificial fertilization, and the destruction of deformed foetuses because these embryos and foetuses are perfect and precious human beings made in the image of God.

The statement of Toward the Culture of Life issued by the CBCK on March 15, 2007 reaffirmed the position of the Catholic Church in Korea against abortion and all embryonic stem cell research no matter what excuse.

We Christians are all invited to practice the moratorium against abortion in our daily life here and now. A true culture of life has to be built from I, and you. For this, we the Christians have to commit ourselves to create a genuine culture for life by respecting and treasuring every single human life in whatever form. Those embryos and foetuses are innocents, disarmed, voiceless and vulnerable human beings.