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Scottish cardinal warns lawmakers over abortion law

The head of Scotland's Roman Catholics said that lawmakers who support Britain's abortion legislation should not take part in Holy Communion or remain full members of the church.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:00 June 2, 2007
  • Gulf News

Edinburgh: The head of Scotland's Roman Catholics said that lawmakers who support Britain's abortion legislation should not take part in Holy Communion or remain full members of the church.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien called on his flock to "boycott" politicians who did not condemn the "unspeakable crime" of abortion. He made the remarks during a sermon in Edinburgh.

"In Scotland, we kill the equivalent of two classrooms of children every day, that's two Dunblanes a day," the cardinal said in reference to the Dunblane elementary school massacre in 1996 when 16 children were murdered by a gunman.

O'Brien warned Catholic lawmakers not to cooperate because of the barrier "such cooperation erects to receiving Holy Communion". "I call on you [the faithful] to hold these elected representatives to account," he said. "For those [lawmakers] unwilling to give this support we must be unwilling to give our vote."

Increase

The sermon to mark the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act came two days after official figures showed abortion on the increase, from 12,603 in 2005 to 13,081 in 2006. Jeremy Purvis, a Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish parliament, condemned the cardinal's comments as "inflammatory". "This is a matter of conscience and the political parties do not have a policy on this and leave it up the individual," he said.

But Scottish National Party lawmaker Michael Matheson said the Catholic Church would be "hypocritical" to remain silent on the issue.

"I think it is perfectly reasonable for the Catholic leader in Scotland to effectively assert Catholic social teaching that is opposed to abortion," he said.

The issue has been a divisive one in a number of countries. Pope Benedict XVI has said it is up to individual bishops to decide whether Catholic politicians should receive Communion if they support abortion rights or gay marriage.

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