Catholic knights kick against abortion, cloning, IVF, others

The Order of The Knights of Saint Mulumba Nigeria has held its 2018 pro-life rally and lecture for Region Three, comprising Ojo, Satellite, Festac, Badagry and Lagos Island sub-divisions.

With the theme, The Family and Sanctity of Human Life, the event reiterated the Catholic Church’s aversion to abortion; termination of lives in all forms; In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF); euthanasia; cremation; cloning; stem cell research; suicide among others.

The guest speakers, Dr. Ngozi Obi, a consultant gynaecologist, and Dr. Michael Obioha, a knight, and of Shell Nigeria, held that the catechism has from time immemorial encouraged sacredness or sanctity of life and abhorred termination of the foetus in all forms as captured in the fifth commandment that says “Thou shall not kill.”

In her paper titled, The Sacredness of Human Life, Obi held that human life is holy and precious and should not be taken under any circumstance.

Citing numerous scriptures to back her conviction, she, however, revealed ways through which the sacredness of human life was being abused in the society today.

She named them to include abortion; IVF; suicide and euthanasia; capital punishment; personal health, dead bodies and burial; war and self-defence as well as scandal.

Obi noted that abortion gets accomplices hence formal cooperation. According to her, the concept confers culpability on the medical personnel that execute the process with the prospective mother.

She recalled that the United States (U.S.) catechism for adults devotes a section to IVF, stem cell research and cloning in its explanation of the fifth commandment because they involve the destruction of embryos, which are considered a gravely sinful form of murder.

According to her, the IVF process requires that viable embryos are deployed while others are destroyed. This, according to the thinking of the Catholic, amounts to murder and upset of sanctity of life since the eliminated fetuses were unborn humans.

Mrs. Obi observed that the church’s belief in resurrection outlaws cremation hence catechism burial of the dead was a corporal work of mercy that must treat the body with respect and love.

To Dr. Obioha, the respect for sacredness of life in the womb originates in Jewish roots hinged on the conviction that all human life has as its author God whose creative power produces the child in the mother’s womb and bring it step-by-step to full life.

He submitted that the emphasis on the mystery of incarnation had made the Catholic Church to further abhor abortion. To back the claim, Obioha cited the

The Didache (The Teachings of the 12 Disciples) (c.AD 80) which asserted: “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child.” He listed other religious quotations to blacklist killings, whether premeditated or inadvertent.

The Grand Knight of Badagry sub-council, Chief Lucky Arhere, had told The Guardian that the yearly ceremony was to encourage liveliness and discourage all acts that decimate mankind.