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An African cardinal has likened the millions of African-American babies killed in the womb to a kind of black “genocide.”
Following remarks by Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Florida Bishop Robert Lynch, who both suggested that the Church should apologize to the homosexual community for past insensitivities, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa, fired off a series of tweets in early July arguing that society should be apologizing to American black women who have been victims of the U.S. abortion industry.
Napier quoted figures from Planned Parenthood’s own Guttmacher Institute showing that of the 57 million abortions performed in the United States since 1973.
“Isn’t this something we should be apologizing for?,” Cardinal Napier rhetorically asked.
In a second tweet, the South African cardinal decried the fact that some 31% of those 57 million babies have been black, asking again whether such an egregious offense against blacks is not worth an apology.
Cardinal Napier then pressed even further, saying in a third tweet that such a figure “starts looking like a genocide when one factors in that Black women make up only 13% of total number of women in USA.”
Last year Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the United States, came under fire after the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released several videos that had been secretly recorded. The videos exposed the fact that Planned Parenthood has been selling the parts of babies they had aborted.
Anna Cox‚ spokesman for the Professional Conduct Committee of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC)‚ told TMG Digital that were no specific social media policies in place as a guideline for Catholic Church leaders.
“We leave it to the discretion of the priest‚ bishop or cardinal so it is in fact complete freedom of expression‚” she said.
While acknowledging that the Church was slightly “behind” in using social media platforms‚ Cox said the use of social media by leaders in the Catholic Church was strongly encouraged.
“Many of our priests and bishops are a little scared of expressing their views on these platforms‚ as they feel they might say the wrong thing. So we are a little slow at adapting with the times however‚ it is encouraged that they do use social media as it is indeed a form of evangelization‚” she explained.
Napier is described as an “exceptionally warm‚ compassionate and down-to-earth man with a ready sense of humor,” who is loved and respected by everyone who comes into contact with him. He also known for packing thought-provoking punch into 140 characters on Twitter.
Earlier this year‚ as he turned 75, Cardinal Napier submitted his resignation as Archbishop of Durban to the pope, having served for 15 years.
Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Napier as one of four synod presidents at the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family. The South African Cardinal, who is also a Franciscan friar (OFM), was also appointed by the Holy Father as a member of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy.
Diane Montagna is Rome correspondentfor Aleteia’s English edition.
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