After Barroso defends abortion in class, bishop of RJ creates commission at PUC

Four days after the president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Luís Roberto Barroso, defended abortion during a lecture at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Cardinal Orani João Tempesta, created a council with five members to assist the university rector, Father Anderson Pedroso.

Barroso’s lecture took place on March 8th and the archbishop’s letter was sent to the institution on March 12th. Dom Orani is the Grand Chancellor of the University.

Due to the proximity of dates, Dom Orani’s order to create the commission was associated with Barroso’s speech.

Barroso was at the University for a Magna Lecture with the theme: “Technological revolution, democratic recession and climate change: the world we are living in”.

As the event took place on March 8, before going into the specific content of his talk, Barroso defended “the right to sexual and reproductive freedom for women”, a euphemism for abortion, and spoke against the criminalization of the practice.

“We need to explain to society that abortion is not a good thing. Abortion must be avoided. And, therefore, the State must provide sexual education, contraceptives and support women who want to have children. And explain to people that being against abortion; not wanting it to happen; try to avoid it; does not mean that we want to arrest women who go through this misfortune, because that is what criminalization does and prevents poor women from using the public health system and, therefore, mutilating themselves and going through immense difficulties”, stated the minister In this ocasion.

After the repercussion of the minister’s speech, PUC-Rio issued a note saying that Barroso “mentioned the importance of ‘International Women’s Day’ and, based on freedom of expression, explained his personal opinions on topics being debated on the national scene”.

On the same note, after defending freedom of expression, the University reaffirmed its fidelity to the “Magisterium of the Church, expressed in Pope Francis’ speech to the participants of the meeting promoted by the Associação Ciência e Vida, on May 30, 2015, according to which ‘a just society recognizes as primary the right to life from conception to its natural end'”.

“In the same statement, Pope Francis encourages us to ‘relaunch a renewed culture of life, which knows how to establish networks of trust and reciprocity, which can offer horizons of peace, mercy and communion’. The Pope also says: ‘Do not be afraid to undertake a fruitful dialogue with the entire world of science, including with those who, although they do not profess to be believers, remain open to the mystery of human life’”, says another excerpt from the note published on the day March 10th.

On March 15, Dom Orani’s letter with the order to create the commission was published by the newspaper Metropolises.

Two days later, on March 17, PUC-Rio issued another statement denying that the creation of the commission was related to Barroso’s speech.

“The content was aimed exclusively at members and the rector, who were familiar with the terms applied, especially because monitoring the management of PUC-Rio is among the regular responsibilities of the Maintainer. The task of any council within PUC-Rio is to collaborate with the Rectory, assisting it in its management, in a synodal practice as Pope Francis asks us”, states the note.

In the same statement, PUC-Rio highlighted the growth in the number of students and the financial health of the institution as a sign of stability.

In the letter sent to the university on March 12, Dom Orani says that he has “carefully followed the different voices regarding the changes that this prestigious Catholic institution is going through” and that he requested a Commission to hold a hearing at PUC-Rio “with the purpose of better understanding this scenario [das mudanças]”.

“Considering what is stated in the Statute of the Maintainer (Article 12), and amidst the signs of instability that the University is experiencing, I decided to appoint to the position of Rector’s Advisors, in common agreement with the Provincial of the Jesuits, the aforementioned members of the Board”, says another excerpt from the letter.

The council is made up of the president of the Catholic Colleges, the Jesuit Father Luís Corrêa Lima, and four directors: Dom Antônio Luiz Catelan Ferreira, Father Ricardo Torri de Araújo, Father Waldecir Gonzaga and Carlos Alberto Serpa de Oliveira.

According to Dom Orani’s letter, “it will be up to the Councilors, always acting together, to collaborate with the Rector in discerning the decisions to be taken by those with competence, within the proper governance of the University and its modus operandiin accordance with the current statute, in the pedagogical, administrative and management areas”.

“Specifically, it is my desire that the Councilors closely assist the Rector in advancing the synodal practice in his management, ensuring broad listening and involvement of the academic community”, said the archbishop in another part of the letter.