Missionary Trip to Uruguay—Reported by Mario Rojas, November 4-10, 2010

The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is located in the southeastern part of South America. Its current population is 3,510,386 (as estimated in July 2010). The capital is Montevideo, which is a cosmopolitan city where at least 50% of the country’s population makes their living.

Mario Rojas (far right) and Fr. Juan Carlos Chavez with the nuns of the Convent of Visitation.

According to demographic experts, a fertility rate of 2.11 children per family is required to maintain a language, tradition, culture, etc. over time. Unfortunately, Uruguay has a fertility rate of about 1.89 children per family; and if those figures do not change, Uruguay runs the risk of becoming an older society with fewer people contributing to the economic development of the country.

Uruguay’s secularism

With its strict separation of Church and State, Uruguay has experienced a strong movement towards secularism since the beginning of the 20^th century. Today, very few young people practice any form of religion at all, despite it being a predominantly Catholic society. According to a 2006 census, the following are the percentage breakdowns of the different religions:

Roman Catholic 47.1%

Non-Catholic Christians 11.1%

Nondenominational 23.2%

Jewish 0.3%

Atheist or agnostic 17.2%

Other 1.1%

Secularism is so strong in Uruguay that very few people speak about God or the devil in public events, or they just do not think they are important issues.

Government policies against life and family values

The current government is part of a Broad Front coalition that came to power for the first time during the 2004 presidential elections and won a second mandate in 2009. At the head of this coalition is a former leftist guerrilla, Jose Mujica, who took up office on March 1, 2010 after having won a run-off election against the conservative former president, Luis Lacalle, with about 53% of the vote. Mr Mujica was a co-founder of the left-wing Tupamaros urban guerrilla movement during the 1960s and was imprisoned during the 1973-1985 military dictatorship.

The Broad Front Coalition has been pushing to approve policies and laws that go against life and family values. Among their advances are the following:

Approval of gay civil unions - Nov 2007

Uruguay’s Congress approved a bill in November 2007 that allowed civil unions for both gay and unmarried straight couples. It is the first country in Roman Catholic-dominated Latin America to approve such a measure nationwide. But gay “marriage” remains illegal in Uruguay.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Law – December 2008

Uruguay’s President, Tabare Vazquez, signed a law on December 1, 2008, guaranteeing the full exercise of sexual and reproductive rights for the entire population; and for that purpose, the State will promote national policies of sexual and reproductive health, develop new programs, and organize services to implement them according to the specified principles and norms (Law No. 18426). 

Approval of adoption by same-sex couples – September 2009

In September 2009, same-sex couples in Uruguay were allowed to adopt children following the approval of a controversial bill by the country’s senate. With this move, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to allow gay couples to adopt.

A near future threat is the possibility of legalized abortion. The forces in the Uruguayan Legislative Assembly in favor of and against abortion are even at the present time, but there is a lot of pressure by international organizations to advance the legalization of abortion as a human right.

Lecture at the Faculty of Theology.

Taking into account the many challenges to the Culture of Life in Uruguay, HLI determined to make a missionary trip there in order to speak to as many key players of society as possible about life and family issues and the threats of the culture of death. This mission trip was made possible largely due to the cooperation of Asociacion Esperanza Uruguay, the local affiliate of HLI in that country, and Fr. Manuel Perez, Vicar of the Family Pastoral of the Archdiocese of Montevideo. The missionaries sent there were Fr. Juan Carlos Chavez, Director of the Latin American Network of Priests and Seminarians for Life (REDESSVIDA) and myself, Mario Rojas, HLI Latin American Coordinator.

As a result, lectures were given at several universities, seminaries, schools, convents, and at the Uruguayan Legislative Assembly. There were also several radio and newspaper interviews given in which we discussed the threats of population control and how to promote the Gospel of Life.

Lectures to Contemplative Nuns

It is well known that Uruguay is experiencing a shortage of vocations for priests and nuns, and the impact seems very similar to what the European society is experiencing at the present time. Basically, people are getting married at an older age because of economic or other reasons, and as a result, fewer children are being born into families.

We made a special effort on this mission trip to visit as many convents of contemplative nuns as possible in order to seek special prayers for the triumph of the Culture of Life over the culture of death.  We visited five convents and spoke to 62 nuns. In our visits, we asked the nuns to commit to pray the Pro-life prayer of Pope John Paul II for the next 5 years. After one of the lectures at a Convent of Visitation in Progreso, Uruguay, one contemplative nun had this to say:

“We are really concerned about the reality that we are living, and after hearing about the current threats of the culture of death, we are committed to praying against the powers of evil.”

Lecture at the Faculty of Theology

We gave one of the most important lectures in Uruguay at the Faculty of Theology to 42 seminarians from three different seminaries and eight priests.  A key aspect of the lecture was to expose the process of what is promoted as “safe sex”; namely, that “safe sex” means using contraception to avoid pregnancy, and since its reliability is not 100%, unwanted pregnancies occur, some of which lead to abortion and post abortion syndrome.

Lecture at Family Pastoral

Lecture at the Family Pastoral.

Another challenge was a lecture we presented on the culture of death and population control to 30 leaders of the Family Pastoral of the Archdiocese of Montevideo, Uruguay. After the lecture, many leaders showed their concern at the acceptance of contraception by so many Catholics in Uruguay. This is an area that the Catholic Church needs to work harder on in Uruguay.

Lectures to Youth Groups at Schools and Parishes

At the request of Asociacion Esperanza Uruguay, several lectures were offered to youth groups on the Christian view of sexuality and the importance of chastity and abstinence as part of an integral love. In general, the subject matter was well received, especially when data was used to clarify issues. After the lecture, many pro-life leaders, educators and youth were interviewed. Maria Jose del Campo, a Pro-life leader of Asociacion Esperanza Uruguay had the following to say:

“The lectures presented by Fr. Juan Carlos Chavez and Mario Rojas of Human Life International were excellent. They spoke to many groups in parishes, schools, and universities about life and family issues that are not often mentioned in our country. The information provided was very valuable; it will help us reach more people in the near future…. We are very thankful for their efforts and for adapting themselves to the requirements of the local environment…”

Conclusion

The visit to Uruguay was a great challenge because the population in general is more concerned about economic problems and tends to consider life and family issues as less important. Under this scenario, raising the importance of life and family issues was not an easy task. But it was made possible thanks to the cooperation of small pro-life groups, led by the Asociacion Esperanza Uruguay and the Family Pastoral of the Archdiocese of Montevideo.

And, of course, none of these efforts would have been possible without the gracious donations from our benefactors. Let us help Uruguay promote the Gospel of Life. You can make it possible!