POPE REPORTED AS APPROVING THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

ROME, June 15 (LSN) – Media around the globe today announced that Pope John Paul II gave his support to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sunday.  In his comments on Sunday, the pope said, “I hope that the work of this important conference will be inspired by the desire to appropriately safeguard basic and inalienable human rights.”  The pontiff added, “While assuring the Holy See’s active contribution to the work of this important conference, I send my best wishes to all participants that this meeting will be an historic moment on the path of mutual understanding between peoples.”  Some reports of the pope’s remarks seemed to suggest he was granting his full-hearted approval to the plans for the ICC. In fact, the Vatican has led the way in expressing concerns over the proposed inclusion of “enforced pregnancy” as a war crime under the jurisdiction of the court. In UN and pro-abortion circles, the lack of abortion on demand amounts to “forced pregnancy. In April, the Vatican proposed replacing the term “enforced pregnancy” with the term “forced impregnation,” in the hope of stirring debate at the present conference. The proposed substitute would focus any new criminal law on the act of rape, instead on the state of pregnancy itself.