Controversial Retired Cardinal Martini Calls Legal Abortion "Positive"

ROME, April 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The controversial Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, a favourite of liberal dissidents within the Catholic Church many of whom hoped he'd be elected Pope, has given an interview on abortion, embryo research, assisted procreation, AIDS and condom use to the Italian weekly L'Espresso. The lengthy interview, a dialogue with Italian bioethics expert Ignazio Marino, reveals publicly the Cardinal's differing opinion on matters of sexuality with the Catholic Church. Even though he retired at age 75 in 2002, the former Archbishop of Milan continues to be a darling of the liberal media.

The full interview published today in Italian (here: http://www.espressonline.it/eol/free/jsp/detail.jsp?type=cs ) has not been commented on by the Vatican. The President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Elio Sgreccia has said he would comment on it once he has reviewed it.

In the largest and most obvious break with Church teaching, the Cardinal refers to legal abortion as "positive" so far as it has "contributed to reducing and eliminating illegal abortions".

In the interview the Cardinal recommends decriminalizing abortion. He laments the fact that the state cannot differentiate between punishable crimes and those which are not convenient to pursue with penal sanction. "That doesn't mean a 'licence to kill'," he added quickly, but that the state should concentrate on diminishing abortion above all in later pregnancies. His strongest statements against abortion came as he said that "in no way" should it be used as a remedy for overpopulation, as it is in some countries.

With regard to the use of condoms in the context of a discussion on HIV/AIDS he said: "Certainly the use of condoms can, in certain circumstances, constitute a lesser evil . . . The question is whether religious authorities should advertise such a means of protection."

On embryo research, the Cardinal presumes to have science on his side, as he suggests that after fertilization but prior to the joining of the two pronuclei (syngamy) destructive research on the embryo (which the Cardinal does not consider such) is not objectionable. He argues for leaving decisions around performing such research to the consciences of researchers.

With regard to artificial procreation the Cardinal is open to it. He suggests, falsely, that the Church's absolute refusal on in vitro fertilization was "based above all on the problem of the fate of the embryos," and since such problems, he claims, can be currently overcome with science the total objection to IVF could be dropped.

However, the Catholic Church opposes IVF and similar techniques of artificial procreation principally since they deprive the child conceived of the right to be conceived in the loving union of a husband and wife - the marital act. The death of embryos which is incidental to IVF is all the more reason to be against such procedures, as are the indignities and dangers associated with artificial procreation. That teaching was presented most recently in 1987 in a document called Donum Vitae which while approved by then-Pope John Paul II was prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed off by the former head of that Congregation - then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI. (see Donum Vitae here: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/docum... )

The good Cardinal is in deep trouble theologically as well as politically.

From Rorate Caeli Blogspot, Saturday, April 22, 2006.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2006/04/temptation-of-church-reading-between.html

Saturday, April 22, 2006
The Temptation of the Church: reading between the lines

No difficulty can arise that justifies the putting aside of the law of God which forbids all acts intrinsically evil. (Casti Connubii, 61)

Furthermore, an intention is good when it has as its aim the true good of the person in view of his ultimate end. But acts whose object is "not capable of being ordered" to God and "unworthy of the human person" are always and in every case in conflict with that good. Consequently, respect for norms which prohibit such acts and oblige semper et pro semper, that is, without any exception, not only does not inhibit a good intention, but actually represents its basic expression. (Veritatis Splendor, 82)

Satan did not know at first who the Son of Man truly was, thereby believing it was possible to tempt that man who was special and holy, but who seemed to be, in the end, only a man.

Satan still tries to convince the world and "Catholic dissenters" that it is possible to tempt the Church; that Holy Mother Church* is merely a human organization, with no supernatural component. After having lost the battles of contraception and female ordination, though emboldened by a few apparent victories in the field of the liturgy (with the prevalent anthropocentric perception of contemporary worship), the Satanic hosts have to force their way through with "extreme cases".

And then we come to the Martini discussion with Communist Senator-elect and doctor Ignazio Marino (the full Italian text is available here), a discussion which the malicious and ill-intentioned have even called "fascinating". Apart from some truisms** used to blur the understanding that an immoral law is always iniquitous, it is an interview whose intent is to cause doubt and scandal among the faithful***, and to please the always-titillating secular press.

May it be clear: the world does not care about the Church's position on any issue, much less if Catholic couples should use contraceptive devices to "prevent infection"; it could not care less about the fate of our smallest brethren, the embryos. The intention of the forces from Hell is to see the Church proclaim: "It IS licit to do evil that good may come of it".

Similarly, dissenters do not care if "remarried" people receive Holy Communion or not. The intention of the forces from Hell is to see the Church proclaim: "Mortal sin has no consequences whatsoever: there is no such thing as a state of sanctifying Grace".

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*"Exactly because he was a man of God, Saint Ignatius was a faithful servant of the Church, which he saw and venerated as Spouse of the Lord and Mother of the Christian faithful." (Benedict XVI, Speech to the members of the Society of Jesus in pilgrimage to the Tomb of Saint Peter, April 22, 2006)

**For instance, "...the law [liberalizing abortion] has contributed to reduce and gradually eliminate [clandestine abortions]", which is obviously the case when abortion is legal and there remains no such thing as a "clandestine abortion".

***In case you have a few doubts regarding one of the "extreme" cases Martini defends, read the excellent articles American Papist has posted here.

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