Bishops back Pope Francis’ remarks on Zika

Pope Francis greets the crowd as part of the Jubilee Year at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Saturday. (Photo: AFP) Despite their staunch opposition to contraceptives, Philippine Roman Catholic bishops expressed their full support Saturday to Pope Francis’ remarks suggesting artificial contraception can be used by women threatened by the Zika virus.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines also backed the pope’s uncompromising position against abortion, even in cases when a pregnant woman carries an unborn child afflicted with a deformity. “We, your bishops, reiterate church teaching: no matter that the child in the womb may be afflicted with some infirmity or deformity, it can never be moral to bring a deliberate end to human life,” Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the bishops conference, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, airline bookings to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have slipped globally since a US public health agency warned pregnant women against travel to areas where the Zika virus is spreading, travel data analysis company ForwardKeys said Friday.

South Africa, also, confirmed its first case of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in a Colombian man, health authorities said.

The virus, which is causing international alarm after spreading through much of the Americas, was detected in the man on his visit to Johannesburg, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi said.