MADRID — The spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’ Conference said that when a group of bishops from Spain informed Pope Francis of the abortion rate in their country, the Holy Father said he was “stunned.”
For more than five years, the number of abortions in Spain has topped 110,000 annually.
According to the Cope Radio Network, Father Jose Maria Gil Tamayo revealed the Pope’s reaction on his Twitter account Feb. 28 and quoted the Holy Father as saying that, in many cases, “The god of money is the focus and not the human person.”
“Whatever doesn’t fit into that arrangement is thrown away, and the children that are unwanted are thrown away,” Pope Francis reportedly told the bishops.
The group of Spanish bishops making their ad limina visit included Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela of Madrid, along with his auxiliaries, Bishop Fidel Herraez, Bishop Cesar Augusto Franco and Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino. Bishop Joaquin Maria Lopez de Andujar of Getafe and Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla were also among the Spanish prelates.
Diocesan bishops make an ad limina visit to the Vatican every five years to report to the pope on the state of their local Churches.