Pope Francis has not given any official reaction to the passage of Argentina’s new abortion law at the very end of 2020, allowing for the aborting of babies through 14 weeks of gestation. There hasn’t been a statement from the pope’s Secretary of State, or the Vatican’s press office, either.
He might have hinted at it when he offered a special greeting to families expecting babies last Sunday — but then, who isn’t thinking of new babies at Christmastime?
What is certain is that no official statement is needed, as the Church has made abundantly clear its teaching on abortion. And the pope, of course, describes himself as a son of the Church.
Still, an excerpt from a letter the pope sent December 1 to some of his former students in Argentina offers both a summary of the pope’s take on abortion, and his frustration at how quickly his views are dismissed — simply by being ignored.
Here’s what he said:
A recent [letter] asked me about the problem of abortion, and I answered as I always have (including in the most recent book Let Us Dream, which comes out today); the issue of abortion isn’t a primarily religious issue, but a human one, an issue of human ethics prior to any religious confession. And I suggest that two questions be asked: 1) Is it just to eliminate a human life to solve a problem? 2) Is it just to hire an assassin to solve a problem? I think it’s funny when people say, “Why doesn’t the Pope send his opinion about abortion to Argentina?” Well, I’ve been sending it to the whole world (including Argentina) since I became Pope.And this touches on another problem. In general, people there don’t usually know the things I say …, they know what it’s said that I say, and this is thanks to the media which, as we well know, answer to biased, particular or partisan interests. In this, I believe that Catholics, from the Episcopate to the faithful in a parish, have the right to know what the Pope really says … and not what the media make it appear he said; here, the phenomenon of the broken telephone comes strongly into play (e.g. “So-and-so told me that so-and-so said this …” and so on down the chain). With this method of communication, in which each person adds or takes something away, unrealistic results are reached, as for example if the story of Little Red Riding Hood ended with Red Riding Hood and her grandmother sitting at a table eating a delicious stew made from the wolf’s meat. That’s what happens with the “broken telephone.”Twice they mention my relationship (closeness, friendship) with Mrs. de Kirchner. The last time that I had contact with the two ex-Presidents (her and Mr. Macri) was when they were in office. After that I had no contact with them.It’s true that the expression “I’m good friends with” or “I’m in constant contact with” is very much part of the “façade” of people who live in the capital, and it’s not the first time that I’ve heard it said (joking, I’d tell them that I never had “so many friends” as I do now).
Read more:
12 Things Pope Francis has said about abortion
And today we celebrate...