MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Francis surprises conservatives with strong mention against the 'horrific' practice of abortion
The pose was addressing diplomats accredited to the Vatican with his “State of the World” address. Pope Francis, whom conservatives in the Roman Catholic Church have accused of not speaking out forcefully enough against abortion, has called the practice “horrific.” The pope made his toughest remarks to date on abortion in his yearly address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, a speech known as his “State of the World” address.
“It is horrific even to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day,” he said in a section of the speech about the rights of children around the world.
Since his election in March, the pope, while showing no signs of changing the Church's position against abortion, has not spoken out against it as sternly or as repeatedly as his predecessors Pope Benedict XVI and the late John Paul II.
Both of those popes often delivered sermons against abortion, which the Church considers murder.
Conservatives in the Church were alarmed when Francis, in a landmark interview in September with the Italian Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica, said the Church must shake off an “obsession” with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.
His stance favoring mercy over condemnation has disoriented conservative Catholics, notably in rich countries such as the United States, where the Catholic Church has become polarized on issues such as abortion.
Last year, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, spoke for many conservative Catholics when he said he was disappointed that the pope had not addressed “the evil of abortion” more directly.
Conservative Catholic websites have criticized the pope in the past months for what they called his silence on abortion.
Top Comments
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Read all commentsThe woman concerned is the ONLY one who should decide about HER body.
Jan 16th, 2014 - 09:04 pm 0Most certainly NOT a bunch of men dressed as women: ah, perhaps that's the problem!
I don't believe that abortion should be used as a type of contraception, but there are certainly cases were abortion would be up to the woman - not the state or the church.
Jan 17th, 2014 - 06:39 am 0Rape - if a woman becomes pregnant through rape, then she should be given the choice of whether to keep the child or not. Her choice.
Massive deformity - if the foetus is massively deformed, then the woman should be given the choice of whether to keep the child or not. Her choice.
Danger to the mother - if the mother's life is in danger, then the woman should be given the choice of whether to have an abortion. Her choice.
Of course, if the Catholic Church changed it's stance on contraception then the need for abortions could be reduced dramatically.
It's stance on contraception is ridiculous, and THEY made it up.
I once had a discussion with a priest about this, and he said that God had said 'go forth and multiply', and that is why the Catholic Church is against contraception.
So I asked the priest: ' Is God all knowing?' and he replied that he was. 'So since God is all knowing, He knows all that has been, all that is, and all that will ever be, then surely God would have actually specifically expressed that contraception was forbidden.' I added. 'The fact that He didn't surely means that contraceptives can be used, and the Catholic Churches stance is based on the opinion of a group of old men who deny the whole principle of going forth and multiplying anyway, so how can anyone believe what they said?'
The priest left quickly after that.
@ 2 LEPRecon
Jan 17th, 2014 - 09:36 am 0“The priest left quickly after that.”
Don't they always when they come across someone with a brain who also knows the “good book” almost as well as they do.
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