Abortion is the “greatest destroyer of peace” and by accepting abortion, a country would be allowing its people to use violence to get what they want, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said today.

Delivering his homily on the occasion of the Day for Life, Scicluna, quoting Saint Theresa of Calcutta’s “simple but prophetic words”, warned of the adverse effects on society caused by legalising abortion.

Insisting that there is no greater virtue than to save and promote life, the Archbishop said it would be far better for mothers to give up their child and to allow it to be raised by others, than have them resort to abortion.

“As always, we must persuade [a woman consider abortion] with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts.”

“By allowing abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills her own child to solve her problems,” he said.

Moreover, he stressed that abortion also absolved fathers of their responsibility, arguing that fathers must also learn to love until it hurts, adding that this would lead to the father putting “other women in the same trouble.”

Scicluna also said that any country that accepts abortion is teaching its people to “use any violence to get what they want.”

Turning his attention on the morning-after pill, which the Church considers ‘abortifacient’, the Archbishop called on those responsible for the licensing of the contraceptive to come clean on its effects.

“An important decision has been placed in front of us. We must choose between the culture of life and the culture of death,” said the archbishop, while appealing to those responsible for allowing the MAP to be licensed to “have the courage to educate people on the true effects” of the medication.

He said that the women have “a right to know what they are doing” and that the responsibility does not only lie with the country’s institutions. “We must all insist that information is truthful and is complete.”