Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who heads the Pontifical Academy for Life, expressed in late August his support for Italy's 1978 law legalizing abortion, although the Catholic Church teaches abortion is murder. When asked his opinion on law 194, which legalized abortion in Italy, Paglia replied: "I think that law 194 is now a pillar of our social life." An estimated six million abortions have been performed there since 1978.
Judie Brown, co-founder of American Life League, tells AFN the problem with the Pontifical Academy started in 2016 when all members and the president were terminated, and it was reconstituted the next year.
"In the process of doing that, the Vatican itself ameliorated all the good work that the Academy had been doing for years – including when I was a part of it," Brown explains. "They replaced the good members with people who are willing to compromise on abortion, human embryonic stem-cell research, and so forth."
Brown argues it's no trouble figuring out who is responsible: Pope Francis. "I personally, as a Catholic, lay it all at his feet," she offers. "We never had these problems until he moved in … he's been a disaster from the beginning.
"This is just another example of the way that, I guess, South American bishops play around with human life because that's where he came from."
Brown adds while the damage is being done to the Church, it has not happened to the faithful. "We remain faithful to the church and not the people, like Pope Francis," she emphasizes.
Bishop Paglia has been challenged for his remarks by the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family, which is separate from the Pontifical Academy. His words, says that academy, "are in clear contradiction" with Catholic Church doctrine – and it is demanding Paglia either publish a "clear and unequivocal statement" defending human life … or be dismissed and replaced.
