By Ajoy Chowdhury
Calcutta, Jan 21, 2020: The Archdiocesan Family Commission celebrated Pro-life Day on January 19 at St. Aloysius School, Howrah for the whole deanery.
Of the 70 participants, were couples, youth and pro-life promoters.
Doctors Utpal and Shipra Goswami, a couple from the Health Commission of the Archdiocese of Calcutta addressed the gathering in Hindi.
“Pro-life means allowing the plan of God to work in us for our families instead of us trying to plan our families according to our needs and desires which are mostly selfish in nature,” Dr. Goswami said.
She added, “Marriage is not a passport to have sex but a call to offer oneself totally for the mutual sanctification of the spouses and thus becoming ‘one flesh’”.
Dr. Utpal strongly reiterated the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta, “If we accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people, not to kill each other?
Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, rather, to use violence to get what they want.”
He added, “Abortion is against nature, the very nature created by God.”
There was an open session whereas to the Church allowing medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) and contraception.
The doctors, answering the queries clarified two important points that even the practice of consciously following the ‘Natural Family Planning’ method with the deliberate intention to avoid conception could be going against God’s will, and that IVF ( In Vitro Fertilization) method of conception was also tampering with the way in which God intended us to procreate.
In the concelebrated Mass, Father Moloy D’costa urged the couples to be defenders of life.
He led the participants in a pledge to stand for the sanctity of life under all circumstances.
The Marriage Preparation Course Team and the Family Commission under the guidance of Father Gnana Peppin and Sister Alma Monteiro jointly organized this pro-life event with support from Fathers Victor David, Devraj Fernandes, CAB team and staff of Our Lady of Happy Voyage.
This was the third pro-life seminar in a series of five such programs. The first two were at Proggaloy and Sacred Heart, Dharamtala.
This was meant mostly for the parishes in Howrah area and the next two will be held at Jishu Ashram, Pandua and St. Pauls’, Kamarchowki on January 26 and February 1, respectively.