In response to those who say this teaching has changed or is of recent origin...
This refers to remarks by U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Meet the Press August 24, 2008. Among other things, she asserted that Catholic Church teaching that human life begins at conception dates back "like maybe 50 years or something like that." It was that late 1950s crackdown, with Pope John XXIII opening the windows because the Inquisition was switching to defenestration.
(via Archdiocese of Milwaukee)
I recently read the statement of the U.S. Conference of Bishops - at least, I went out to their Web Site, found the fact sheet, and went through it. On the one hand, I'm happy to believe that the Roman Catholic Church has always opposed abortion. (I understand that opposition to abortion was quite popular in the Hellenistic world, which is why it appears in the Hippocratic Oath.) On the other, there isn't any reference to it in either the New or the Old Testament that I have found, so I'm not sure the Church's opposition can be described as either scriptural or divinely inspired.
ReplyDeleteBut here's my question. The other day, I was watching the EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network, aka "The Catholic Channel"), briefly - I seldom watch for more than a minute or two at a sitting. The speaker, who appeared to be a layman, referred to the "murder" of about one million babies in the womb.
Now, I understand that the church views abortion as a grave moral wrong, but nothing in the Bishops's statement, or anything else I've read, tells me that abortion is equivalent to murder.
Is it or isn't it?