A prominent Church leader in South Korea has reiterated the Catholic Church’s stand against abortion and the death penalty saying human life is noble, honourable and dignified from the moment of conception. His Eminence Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo- jung , Archbishop of Seoul, addressing the Youth Pro-Life Rally in the South Korean capital on March 16. Some 1,000 Korean youth and Church leaders, including His Eminence Cardinal Yeom and Apostolic Nuncio to Korea Archbishop Alfred Xuereb participated in the rally that was organized by the Committee for Family & Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) in cooperation with the Organizing Committee for March for Life Korea.
As reported by Vatican news, “What we should do is to accept every life as it is from the moment of conception under the responsibility of both father and mother at the same time. Moreover, given that every life is under the common responsibility of our society, we should try to improve the overall social welfare system to support parents to give birth and raise their children,” said His Eminence Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo- jung. .” The cardinal’s message to the nation’s lawmakers reiterated the Church’s position on the sensitive issues of abortion and the death penalty that are growing increasingly controversial in Korean society today.
Earlier on March 14, during the annual spring Mass for Catholic congressmen, His Eminence Cardinal Yeom stressed Church’s commitment to life, saying that babies should be “protected and respected as independent beings” from their embryonic stage, and not be “regarded as possessions of either mothers or fathers”. “Human dignity,” he stressed, “cannot be decided by the majority vote or judged by socio-economic standards.
