ABORTION IS MURDER, CHURCH MUST BE CLOSE AND COMPASSIONATE, NOT POLITICAL -POPE

Thu 16 September 2021:

“Abortion is murder”, the Church cannot change its position, but “every time the bishops have not confronted the problem as pastors, they have taken sides politically.” These were Pope Francis’ words during a conversation with journalists on the papal flight from Bratislava to Rome, at the conclusion of his trip to Budapest and Slovakia.

Speaking to journalists on a return flight from Budapest and Slovakia, the Pope said: “Abortion is homicide. Whoever has an abortion kills. It is a human life, period. And this human life must be respected.”

He also told journalists that bishops act in a way that is not pastoral but political.

“If we look at the history of the Church, we will see that every time the bishops have dealt with a problem not as pastors, they have taken a political stance on a political problem,” he said.

“Abortion is murder.. Those who carry out abortions kill,” he said.

“At the third week after conception, often even before the mother is aware (of being pregnant), all the organs are already (starting to develop). It is a human life. Period. And this human life has to be respected. It is very clear,” he said.

“Scientifically, it is a human life,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration formally asked a federal judge to block enforcement of a new Texas law that effectively bans almost all abortions in the state under a novel legal design that opponents say is intended to thwart court challenge.

The Republican-backed law forbids abortions performed once cardiac activity has been detected in the embryo, typically starting at six weeks of gestation.

Church law says a Catholic who procures an abortion automatically excommunicates themselves from the Church.

Speaking on same-sex marriages, he said that “matrimony as a sacrament is between a man and a woman.”

On COVID-19 vaccine hesitation in some countries, he said there are even some anti-vaxxers in the College of Cardinals, and one of them was hospitalized due to the virus.

“In the Vatican, everyone has been vaccinated except a small group under study to know how to help them,” he added.

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