Abortion debate could enliven meeting of Pontifical Academy for Life

February 08, 2010

This week's meeting of the Pontifical Academy for Life could produce fireworks, according to veteran Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister, because some members of the Academy have lost confidence in their president, Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella. Magister traces the problem to lingering concerns about the article that Archbishop Fisichella wrote for L'Osservatore Romano last year, sharply criticizing Brazilian Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho for his handling of a controversial abortion case involving a young girl. When the Brazilian archbishop complained that the article by Archbishop Fisichella was based on inaccurate information, L'Osservatore Romano ignored his request for a correction, and Archbishop Fisichella remarked that he did not need to apologize, since he had written the piece on instructions from the Secretariat of State. Those explanations did not sit well with some members of the Pontifical Academy for Life-- especially after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement defending Archbishop Cardoso.

 

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Further information:

• Vatican Tempests. The Academy for Life Puts Its Neck on the Line (L'Espresso)
• Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith backs Brazilian archbishop in dispute over abortion excommunications (CWN, 7/13/2009)