Peruvian bishop denounces ‘direct attack’ on Church’s freedom of speech

Bishop Isaac Martínez Chuquizana leads the diocese of Cajamarca, Peru. / Credit: Peruvian Bishops Conference.

Lima Newsroom, Mar 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The bishop of Cajamarca, Peru, has denounced a “direct attack” on the Catholic Church’s freedom of speech by the LGBTQ+ community, which accuses the Church of the “alleged crime of discrimination” for a talk warning of the consequences of “Comprehensive Sexual Education” (CSE) in Peru.

In a statement signed by Bishop Isaac Martínez Chuquizana of Cajamarca, the diocese referred to the complaint filed in December 2024 by Reyna Consuelo Solís Rivera, “who claims to be part of the LGBTQ+ community,” with the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights and Interculturality of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Cajamarca.

Solís’ complaint targets “representatives of the Diocese of Cajamarca and Human Life International,” who gave the talk titled “Comprehensive Sexual Education and Its Consequences” on Aug. 26, 2024, at the Cajamarca Book Fair.

The talk was led by Father Javier Hoyos Huamán, head of the Life and Family Committee of the Diocese of Cajamarca, and Roxaida Carolina López de Ojeda from Human Life International, who holds a master’s degree in bioethics. The participants warned about the harmful consequences of CSE in Peru and other countries in the region.

“They didn’t like the fact that we told them that condoms don’t protect against all sexually transmitted diseases,” López told the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News a month later in September 2024.

Likewise, the expert continued, “when you tell a girl, ‘take it, here’s your contraceptive.’ What are you telling her? What’s the underlying message? That you can have sexual relations whenever you want, as long as you ‘take care of yourself.’” And if either the contraceptive or the condom fails, they are offered abortion, she warned.

Hoyos told EWTN News that “God will hold us accountable for all the lives we are allowing to be murdered in the world,” emphasizing that “the IUD or the morning-after pill are means that cause abortion.”

The statement from the Diocese of Cajamarca also noted that “since the ad about [the talk] was published, feminist and LGBTQ+ groups, both local and national, have labeled the event on social media as a ‘serious offense, misinformation, shameful, anti-rights, etc.’”

On the day of the talk, the text continues, “a group of members of the aforementioned groups attended who were agitated and violent during the talk, and with a ruthless and cruel attitude, shouted, mocked, and constantly interrupted. Thanks to the intervention of security provided by the [book fair] organization, nothing further escalated.”

Regarding the complaint filed by Solís, the diocese called “on those who administer justice to carefully evaluate the criteria of the complaint, which are not consistent with the aforementioned values, nor with the freedom of religion and speech that governs our people.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.