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    Fr. Joseph Jenkins

  • The blog header depicts an important and yet mis-understood New Testament scene, Jesus flogging the money-changers out of the temple. I selected it because the faith that gives us consolation can also make us very uncomfortable. Both Divine Mercy and Divine Justice meet in Jesus. Priests are ministers of reconciliation, but never at the cost of truth. In or out of season, we must be courageous in preaching and living out the Gospel of Life. The title of my blog is a play on words, not Flogger Priest but Blogger Priest.

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Is Killing a Child Inside the Womb the Same as Outside?

QUESTION:

Dear Fr. Joe, does the official Catholic doctrine on abortion explicitly state or imply that the killing of a child inside the womb is the same as killing a child outside the womb? (My personal belief is that it is the same as I can see no other logical conclusion). I posed this question to the USCCB but they have not answered. In two letters to the Pope I stated that allowing Catholic politicians impunity when they promote abortion is being complicit. Well, he did not send a reply to that one.

RESPONSE:

I suspect that neither the USCCB nor the Holy Father regularly respond to inquiries from individuals.  Given Saint Pope John Paul II’s words on the Gospel of Life and that of the universal catechism, it is safe to say that there is equivalence between the destruction of a child inside or outside the womb.  The catechism states: [2270] “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”

Mass for Sunday of the 25th Week of the Year