VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – The scandal-plagued Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) has clarified its president Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia’s recent remarks calling Italy’s permissive abortion law “a pillar” of Italian society.
Speaking on Italian state television channel Rai Tre on Friday, Paglia said that Italy’s Law 194, which permits abortion for any reason within the first 90 days of pregnancy and for specified reasons thereafter, has now become “a pillar of our social life,” sparking scandal and outrage among Catholic commentators who understood the remarks as a kind of praise for the 1978 legislation.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò castigated the prelate over his comments, suggesting that Paglia’s words, which he said were “scandalous,” “contradict the Gospel and the teaching of the Roman Pontiffs” on the sanctity of life and the false “right to abortion.”
Jacob Coghe of the Italian pro-life organization Pro Vita & Famiglia said that Paglia’s discussion of Law 194 failed to “deny the intrinsic iniquity” of the pro-abortion legislation. “We do not understand how a law that kills harmless and innocent human lives can be a ‘pillar’ of society,” he said.
In response, the PAV released a press statement Monday morning stressing the prelate’s intention to simply express that the law – which paved the way for the murder of over 6 million babies in the country – has become “entrenched in the Italian legal system” rather than to convey “a positive view” of the law.
#Italy @PagliaAbp on abortion. A misunderstanding of the word “pillar” in a unique context https://t.co/xcy9cb9dh5 pic.twitter.com/pdc3bTwjQh
— Pontifical Academy Life (@PontAcadLife) August 29, 2022
The pontifical academy instead highlighted Paglia’s later remarks regarding the same law, in which he emphasized the “right to motherhood” and made comments “to counteract the dramatic decline in birth rates and the resulting lack of support for the elderly that the country is experiencing.”
Liberal bishops around the world continue promoting heterodox views on homosexuality, female priests, divorce, contraception, and more — advancing anti-Catholic positions that jeopardize the salvation of souls.
Such bishops often sideline, ignore and even persecute traditional Catholics who simply ask that the Faith be preserved and passed on to their children.
But traditional Catholics cannot be silenced any longer, which is why we are uniting in this international boycott of modernist bishops and dioceses until the deposit of Faith is upheld by the hierarchy again.
SIGN: We will not fund modernist bishops or priests who undermine the Catholic Faith, but rather direct our contributions towards faithful clergy and orders that work for the salvation of souls.
There are countless examples of bishops working against Christ's Church in calling for divine law to be ignored in favor of sexual, doctrinal and liturgical deviancy, even trying to clamp down on Catholics who practise the Faith.
Just last year, Cardinal Cupich banned traditional prayers after Mass, and more recently has curtailed the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese.
Cardinal Cupich has banned the Hail Mary and St Michael Prayer after Mass
— Nick Donnelly (@ProtecttheFaith) August 27, 2021
Who but a devil would ban these prayers after Mass
The attack on the Faith is out in the open, with modernist bishops causing scandal in countless ways:
- Shutting down the Latin Mass in numerous parishes
- Rejecting the Church's teaching on sodomy
- Ignoring Vatican cover-ups of abuse by fellow bishops
- Celebrating LGBT Masses
- And so much more!
We have seen enough. Now is the time to show true Catholic unity against those who undermine the Faith - do not be bullied into submission by these men who would disfigure Christ's Church.
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"We therefore commit to a financial boycott of modernist bishops until the hierarchy resolves to uphold the entire deposit of Faith."
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Photos: Pope Francis. Flickr. Long Thiên; Cardinal Cupich. Flickr. Goat_Girl; Collection Plate: Lisa F. Young/Shutterstock
“I would predict an accentuation of that part [of Law 194] that is not being implemented: the right to motherhood, seeing our country grow in the face of a rather dramatic imbalance between generations,” Paglia said. “I would urge us to look with confidence at a country that wants to live in freedom, in development, in progress. I believe that the birth crisis is a problem that we have unfortunately not thought about, and it is already too late … It is part of the lack of vision I mentioned earlier: alongside rights there are duties.”
Later in the interview, which was focused on the upcoming Italian general elections, a video recording posted by La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana shows host Giorgia Rombolà state that Law 194 was “not up for debate,” to which Paglia responded, “No, absolutely not.”
The video published only the brief comments by Paglia and did not provide their context.
The PAV has garnered a reputation for failing to defend important life matters in recent years, with Paglia no longer requiring new academy members sign a statement confirming their union with Church teaching on the defense of life.
READ: Pope Francis appoints abortion supporter to Vatican pro-life academy
Paglia also defended the abortion-tainted shots against COVID-19 while denigrating those with objections and even promoting their uptake for children as a way to “protect … the greatest number of people possible.”
Last month, the PAV drew criticism after publishing a book, “Theological Ethics of Life. Scripture, Tradition, Practical Challenges,” which proposes both contraception and artificial insemination as morally acceptable, even though the Magisterium has definitively condemned each practice.
At the release of the book, Paglia claimed that the intention of it is to open “a dialogue between … different opinions, including on controversial topics, offering many points for discussion” and added that “ the perspective [of the book] is that of rendering a service to the Magisterium.”