WHAT IS GOING ON AT THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE?

What is going on at the Pontifical Academy for life?


Conceding that the Scriptures clearly and forcefully condemn abortion on demand, Rabbi Dr. Fishel Szlajen, one of the members appointed by Pope Francis to serve on the new Pontifical Academy for Life,  also believes that abortion is allowed in some rare and exceptional cases where the baby is conceived by rape or when the unborn child, because of disease or illness, undeniably threatens the life of the mother. 


Rabbi Dr. Szlajen reportedly bases his argument about abortion on the Jewish law of  dif rodef, a concept in Jewish law that stipulates that if an individual is chasing after another person with the intention to kill them, it is permitted for any other person to kill the individual threatening to commit murder."


A perversion of this teaching has been cited in cases of assassination, such as the murder of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 


The Catholic Church forbids abortion in cases of rape or incest, arguing that the innocent child, regardless of how he was conceived, is a child of God and merits the same rights as all human beings, principally the right to life. 


So why is Rabbi Dr. Szlajen a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life?


Still, Rabbi Dr. Szlajen is not the only member of the Pontifical Academy of Life who appears to support abortion.


Anglican cleric, Nigel Biggar, approved by Pope Francis for the Academy, said in 2011, “I would be inclined to draw the line for abortion at 18 weeks after conception, which is roughly about the earliest time when there is some evidence of brain activity, and therefore of consciousness."


He also said, “It’s not clear that a human foetus is the same kind of thing as an adult or a mature human being, and therefore deserves quite the same treatment. It then becomes a question of where we draw the line, and there is no absolutely cogent reason for drawing it in one place over another.”


So why does Nigel Biggar continue in his appointment to the Academy?


Rabbi Avraham Steinberg, appointed to the Academy by Pope Francis in 2017, said in 2008 that a human embryo has "no human status" before 40 days, and "after 40 days it has 'a certain status of a human being, not a full status.  Abortion is not permissible by Jewish law but if the situation of the mother is in a psychological upset to a degree that it may cause her serious trouble, then abortion may be permissible despite the fact that for the foetus’s sake, we would not allow it.  So case by case, occasionally abortion might be permissible," he said, "something which is probably unheard-of in the Catholic point of view.”


Again, why hasn't Rabbi Steinberg been removed from the Academy?


Another Academy member, Fr. Maurizio Chiodi, has also argued, based on Pope Francis's letter on the family, Amoris Laetitia, that artifical birth control may be required for some married couples. 


It is astonishing that Father Chiodi as well as other persons holding to beliefs and points of view so contradictory to consistent Catholic moral teaching have been appointed to the Pontifical Academy for Life and continue to hold these appointments!


If one thing has been certain and clear, the Catholic Church has consistently held that abortion is the moral equivalent of murder, the unjust taking of life.  In a corollary to that teaching, the Church has taught that sterilization and contraception are "morally unaccepable means" to regulate births. 


How beliefs and opinions so contrary to these fundamental truths can be attested to by those holding appointments to the Pontifical Academy for Life is beyond any understanding whatsoever!


I know I am shocked by such reports and wonder what in the world and in the Church is happening to our beloved Catholic Faith!


What thinkest you?