On Monday, the Pontifical Academy for Life reiterated comments made by its head on Italian television that the country’s abortion legislation was a “pillar of society.”
In a response sent to CNA upon request, a spokeswoman said that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia’s comments had been misinterpreted.
In order to demonstrate that Statute 194 is now structurally a part of the relevant legislation, Fabrizio Mastrofini said, “This comment was not intended to make a value judgement on the law.
Therefore, there is a lot to say about the “pillar’s” quality.
“I feel that at this time Law 194 is a bedrock of our society,” Paglia stated in an interview with Italian public broadcaster Rai Tre.
Abortion was lawful in Italy under “Law 194,” which came into effect in 1978, for any cause during the first 90 days of pregnancy and for defined reasons beyond that with a doctor’s recommendation.
“In my view, and I have written as much, I would want to see greater attention on the element that is barely talked about, namely the right to motherhood,” Paglia stated on Italian television. “I would like to see our nation expand, in the face of the drama of a generational imbalance that is rather dramatic.”
The cardinal said, “I would urge to look with faith upon a nation that aspires to live in liberty, growth, and progress, and I believe that the natality issue is a subject on which we have, regrettably, not thought, and it is already late.”
Strong condemnation followed Paglia’s remarks, with one Italian observer writing in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana: “We have reached the very lowest point.
We have reached the end of the road, the beginning of ethics, faith, reason, and constancy. We have a legislation that kills life being protected by the head of an academy created to save life.
A pro-life spokesperson also objected to Paglia’s word choice.
Jacob Coghe of Pro Vita & Famiglia said, “We do not comprehend how a legislation that stifles vulnerable and innocent human beings can be a ‘pillar’ of society.
Some of the responses to Paglia’s statements, according to a spokeswoman for the Pontifical Academy for Life, were “more than specious, almost offensive.” Additionally, Mastrofini claimed that the term “pillar” had been misused.
The statement from the school added, “Archbishop Paglia, in the same interview, firmly stressed the urgent need to promote the component of the legislation that is concerned with the preservation and promotion of motherhood.
Therefore, it is more than desirable for the legislation to be strengthened in order to provide a more thorough level of protection for unborn children, while also taking care to prevent exacerbating the problem, as has regrettably occurred in certain instances.
Paglia has previously discussed “the preservation and promotion of life at all stages of development (from conception to death) and in all conditions,” including “children, women, convicts, those who had been given death sentences, migrants, and the old,” according to the academy’s statement.
Recent remarks made on social media and a book have drawn criticism to the Pontifical Academy for Life.
A Vatican-published book summarising a 2021 ethics course in which a participant questioned “the conceivable propriety of contraception in some instances” was promoted by the academy’s official Twitter account in late June.
In a news statement on August 8, the pontifical school said that the conference covered “all the concerns relating to life ethics, including contraception and sexual marital morality.” The seminar also covered the subject of euthanasia.
Catholic Twitter users and media outlets criticised several of the seminar’s advertising messages for presenting inaccurate or unclear information regarding the teachings of the Church.
Pope St. John Paul II and professor Jerome Lejeune established the Pontifical Academy for Life in 1994. Archbishop Paglia was appointed head of the school by Pope Francis in 2016.
The organisation is committed to advancing the coherent moral code of the Church.
After Paglia withdrew the requirement that academy members submit a declaration vowing to protect life in accordance with the Church’s magisterium, the school faced criticism in November 2016.
It is believed that more than 6 million infants have been terminated since abortion became legal in Italy.