Siding with life - unconditionally

XX Encounter of women in Mar del Plata, Argentina

Santuario de Mar del Plata Shrine in Mar del Plata Heiligtum in Mar del Plata
Hijos predilectos de Dios God’s favorite children Gottes Lieblingskinder
Cada niño un regalo de Dios... Each child, a gift from God… Jedes Kind ein Geschenk Gottes…
…con ganas de vivir … with the desire to live … mit dem Wunsch zu leben, zu wachsen Fotos: Seeger © 2005

ARGENTINA, Soledad Oliva Carreras. The weekend of the 8th-10th of October 2005 was very special for the women of the Schoenstatt Movement of Mar del Plata: along with other hundreds of Catholic women, they participated in the struggle for the defense of life at a very important time.

Since the International Encounter for Women that took place in Beijing, China, in 1995, the feminist organizations from all the world have radicalized their discourse –before it was centered on the social aspects of a woman’s life: equal opportunities at work, civil rights, political participation, etc. now it is orienting their struggle towards the destruction of society, encouraging homosexuality, demanding public policies on birth control (for "free" and "safe" sex) and basically, aiming for the legalization of abortion.

During the XX National Encounter of Women organized by members of different political and social organizations the weekend of the 8^th-10^th of October, it was very clear that these groups, who proclaim themselves to be defenders of women’s rights, have as their real objective the destruction of the institution of the family and to promote the culture of death.

A covenant for life

The Bishop of Mar del Plata, Monsignor Juan Alberto Puiggari and the Diocesan Pastoral Commission for Women, did excellent work of preparation throughout the year, organizing talks to prepare the women wishing to participate in the Encounter to defend life, so that they would have the adequate tools. They also coordinated the work of the different religious movements of the diocese, the Schoenstatt Movement actively collaborated with this task since the beginning.

That is how some five hundred Catholic, Christian or pro-life women were able to attend this encounter, which was characterized as obstructing the participation of real women by fostering a campaign of misinformation.

"The official total, announced by their organizers to the media, reported more that 30,000 registrants. As a registered participant I observed that there were about 50 workshops on various subjects (several commissions were formed from some of these workshops), each workshop had a maximum of forty participants", commented Soledad Oliva Carreras.

The subjects of the workshops were diverse. Among others there were workshops concerning the woman’s relationship with social organizations, health, unemployment, family violence and of course, birth control, abortion and the strategies to legalize them. These last subjects were brought up in the discussion of all the workshops, even if it was not related to the subject, and at times these subjects were forced.

They want to live and they want their children to live

Many Schoenstatt women participated in the most arduous workshops, such as the one on abortion, which required a very solid preparation and courage to withstand anything. The author of this article, for reasons of personal history, decided to participate in the workshop Woman and Health and it was a very intense experience. Other than the organizers, the majority of the participants were persons with terminal illnesses or relatives of victims of catastrophes or workers of the public health centers, all of them urged by the politics of the State that values health as a social good,and to give love and solidarity to a community that is contentious.. Women, which in many cases were bought to Mar del Plata "to increase the numbers" but who touched the hearts of those who heard them, because in spite of their lack of academic preparation and even if they were repeating a talk that was prepared by others who are in favor of abortion, what they really wanted to say was that they want to live and they want their children to live. And this is what became evident as the debate was going on and each one gave her testimony, she told her life history, her needs, her complaints, her pain.

That is why I think that this workshop got away from the hands of the women who are feminists; reflecting on the reality of the country: the legalization of abortion is not on the real agenda of the needs of the people, it is something that is imposed. In this way, Thanks to God,

the conclusions at the end of the workshop manifested that instead of demanding that abortion be legal, that it be obtained freely and without cost(which was the implied purpose of the Encounter) they proposed that they work for a "plan of wholesome sex education that will deal with reproductive health, family planning, and responsible parenting.

Communicators of real love are needed.

Of course, none of this made the front pages of the newspapers. The organized chaos of the protest marches that sowed shame and destruction was reported. The posters of the workers for death were the watchword. The clash between the women of the Encounter and the Catholic "infiltrators" were mentioned.

All of this happened. But they are only the most appealing actors of a reality that is much more complex: that of a country of men and women who suffer from the lack of education, worthy employment, access to health care and moreover they are systematically bombarded by the discourse of much more powerful groups who use them to get their votes or to endorse encounters such as this one.

Argentina of the XXI century needs workers who are willing to proclaim the Word of Jesus, communicators of real love are needed. And this is the reality that challenges all of us as Catholics and that commits us to a fruitful apostolate.

Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA