Candidates to Become Next Pope United on Pro-Life Issues

Candidates to Become Next Pope United on Pro-Life Issues Email this article Printer friendly page

The Vatican (LifeNews.com) -- The leading candidates who could become the next Pope and leader of the Catholic Church have one thing in common -- they all take a pro-life stance on key issues such as abortion and euthanasia:

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes is a 70-year-old Franciscan priest who leads the Sao Paolo Archdiocese. Monsignor Dario Bevilacqua, spokesman for the diocese told the Associated Press that "he has always been in line with the Vatican's official position" on pro-life issues.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, 72, of Nigeria, would be the first place pope since the 5th century. He takes a strong stance in opposition to abortion. In April 2002, he compared abortion, euthanasia and genetic experiments to the September 11 terrorist attacks, saying they all share a "contempt for human life." In remarks made to those celebrating a Buddhist festival, he said they should oppose "a culture of death, in which abortion, euthanasia and genetic experiments on human life itself have already obtained or are on the way to obtaining legal recognition."

Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan, Italy is another frontrunner. He is a strong pro-life advocate, having helped prepare Pope John Paul's encyclical on human life issues, "Evangelium Vitae." Tettamanzi also wrote an online book about medical ethics.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio a 68-year-old Jesuit has been the archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998. He is credited with leading a number of pro-life initiatives and, in June 2003, spoke out against a proposal by some Argentina lawmakers to legalize abortion in cases when the unborn child is disabled. "An anencephalic baby is a sick human being," he said. "But being sick does not make him any less human, because he is the fruit of human procreation, with human form and a human destiny."

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna is another possible pope who enjoys support from some of the more conservative European cardinals. However, at 58 years old, he may be seen as too young to some who don't want another pope to serve 26 years. In a February 2004 talk, Schonborn lauded efforts by Catholics and Muslims to work together against allowing the United Nations to declare an international right to abortion.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who toiled for years in Pope John Paul II's shadow as papal vicar of Rome, is seen as more of a long-shot candidate. Ruini has fought efforts to allow euthanasia in Italy and is seen as strongly supporting John Paul's strongly pro-life views. He defend efforts to stop a genetic screening law in Italy that would have prompted abortions, saying "many men and women who today live their lives with joy and positive results would never have been born."

Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic is a strong voice on pro-life issues and has sharply criticized abortion and population control programs that include forced sterilization, comparing them to the work of "death squads." He condemned UN efforts to encourage abortion as an international right, calling it a "perverse international plan."

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany could become a candidate for those who want more of a transitional pope tying in Pope John Paul II with a pope from outside of Europe. He headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which spells out the Catholic Church's positions on issues such as abortion.

Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium found himself in an interesting situation when, in an interview on Dutch television, he said AIDS patients should abstain from sex, but added they have a moral obligation to use a condom if they do engage in intercourse. The pro-abortion dissent group "Catholics" for a Free Choice tried to exploit the statement and claim the cardinal backed using condoms. He rebuffed the effort, calling the abortion advocacy group "deplorable."

My dad emailed the following to me. It is an email to Hugh Hewitt from a listener. The last paragraph is amazing.

Hugh,

Really great web post today. I am curious as to whether, if at all, protestant evangelicals are hospitable to such things. But since you posted on the Blessed Faustina, Fatima, etc., here are a few John Paul mystical factoids for future reference.

* John Paul died Saturday at the conclusion of the mass of the Divine Mercy, which was being said in his presence on Saturday evening. This is a feast day instituted by the Pope following his canonization of Faustina. It also signals the conclusion of "Bright week", as the Church celebrates Easter as week, not simply a day.

* When Padre Pio, the great Capuchin mystic and stigmatic (also canonized by John Paul) was nearing death in 1968, it was decided that the hundreds of thousands of letters he had received over the years from people around the world asking for healings, and which were stored at his monastery, should be destroyed, since much of what was written was subject to penitent-priest confidentiality. Before they were destroyed, Padre Pio went to the storeroom, plucked two letters out of the pile, handed them to a brother monk and said, "Save these two, they will be important someday." Both letters were written in the 1950s by an obscure Polish priest named Carol Wotyla, asking Padre Pio to pray for parishioners who were terminally ill. In both cases, it turned out; the person for whom intervention was sought experienced immediate, miraculous recoveries.

* John Paul was shot by Mehmet Ali Aga on May 13th, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. In 1984 John Paul fulfilled the Fatima request that the Holy Father, in concert with all the bishops of the world, simultaneously consecrate Russia to Mary. This had been attempted, in marginal and incomplete ways, by earlier popes in the century. After the consecration, the Vatican heard from Sister Lucia, the surviving Fatima visionary, that the consecration had been accepted. Shortly thereafter, Andropov (or whichever geriatric Stalinist was then in charge, I forget) dropped dead and Gorbachev assumed power. Two years ago, you may recall, the Church, with Lucia's permission, revealed the third and final secret of Fatima. It was a vision of the assassination attempt on the Pope, together with the martyrdom of other religious during the 20th century.

* Last but not least (for those who doubt that the Holy Spirit can be pretty proactive when necessary) shortly after his ascension to the papacy in 1978, Pope John Paul I startled his staff at breakfast one morning when he informed them "he would not be Pope for very long." His explanation: he had had a prophetic dream the night before informing him that the conclave had disregarded the will of the Holy Spirit, and matters needed to be corrected. Specifically, John Paul I told his confidants, the cardinals were supposed to have elected the cardinal who had been sitting behind him during the consistory. The cardinal who had sat behind him was Carol Wotyla.

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