Is this really happening???
From the Washington Examiner comes this: Pope Leo weighs in on abortion for first time, raises question about ‘pro-life’ positions...
Written by Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner: Pope Leo weighs in on abortion for first time, raises question about ‘pro-life’ positions
"Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday offered an assessment of the abortion dynamic in the United States, marking his first public comments on the matter since becoming the first American-born pope earlier this year.
The pope specifically addressed a controversy involving Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich’s decision to award a lifetime achievement award to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Ten U.S. bishops criticized the move, citing Durbin’s long record as an abortion-rights advocate.
Leo volunteered a measured endorsement of Durbin this week when pressed by reporters in Italy on the situation. He argued it is “very important” to examine the “overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, 40 years of service in the United States Senate.”
Leo strongly reaffirmed core Catholic teaching opposing abortion and euthanasia, upon his election to the papacy in May, saying they were evidence of today’s “throwaway culture.” But this week, the pope questioned elements of the “pro-life” movement that has touted his own papacy due to his long record of speaking out against “eliminating unwanted unborn children.”
He suggested such advocates may be failing to live up to the nature of the movement by not bringing the same level of support it articulates for the unborn to those in other vulnerable stages of life.
“Someone who says, ‘I am against abortion,’ but says, ‘I am in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life,” the pope said. “Someone who says that, ‘I am against abortion, but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
Durbin, who is Catholic, opted to decline the award after Bishop Thomas Paprocki echoed arguments of nine other colleagues when he stated he was “shocked” that the senator was being honored. Honoring a “public figure who has actively worked to expand and entrench the right to end innocent human life in the womb undermines the very concept of human dignity and solidarity that the award purports to uphold,” Paprocki said, adding that giving Durbin the award would risk “confusing the faithful about the Church’s unequivocal teaching on the sanctity of human life.”
Leo argued during his comments in Italy that abortion and other issues are “complex," but added that the church’s teachings remain “very clear.” There were over 66 million abortions performed in the U.S. between 1973, when abortion was legalized nationally, and 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“I would ask, first and foremost, that there be greater respect for one another and that we search together, both as human beings, in that case as American citizens, or citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say, ‘We need to really look closely at all of these ethical issues, and to find the way forward as a church,’” the Chicago-born pope said.
The pope also reiterated the belief that leaders must “always work for peace” when he was pressed on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s somewhat unorthodox speech on Tuesday. Hegseth told soldiers to ready themselves for war, not only defense, in remarks that urged leading military figures to operate with an eye on more “lethality,” espoused the use of “overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy,” and promised to “untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country.”
Referencing the Trump administration’s recent decision to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War, Leo said Hegseth’s emphasis “is worrying, because it shows each time an increase in tensions — this vocabulary, even shifting from ‘Minister of Defense’ to ‘Minister of War.’”
“Let’s hope it is only a way of speaking,” the pope added. “Certainly, they have a style of government where they want to show strength, to put pressure, and we hope it works, but that there will not be war. One must always work for peace.”'
End of article...
Absolutely amazing!
Pray for the conversion of Leo!
Pray too for strength and honor!
Viva Cristo Rey! Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...
St. Joseph pray for us!!
Gene DeLalla
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