
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994                   TAG: 9405050007
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JAMES E. PARKE and ANDREA SEXTON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CATHOLIC POSITION HAS BEEN CONSTANT

PAULA Williams advises pro-lifers to remember that ``not every religion in every era has deemed abortions as immoral'' (March 17 letter to the editor, ``Parity, please, in politics of morals''). To substantiate this thesis, she discusses the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion. Unfortunately, she implies that the church at one time condoned abortion and that its ``doctrine'' on abortion has changed. Williams is mistaken.

The gospel teaches that Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit and that the in utero John (the Baptist) ``leaped'' in Elizabeth's womb in response to Mary's (and therefore Jesus') visit to her cousin. These biblical references to the living personhood of the human unborn were reinforced by the Didache, a compilation of Apostolic teachings appearing at the end of the first century, which stated ``you shall not slay a child by abortion.''

The second-century apologist Athenagoras wrote that ``the fetus in the womb is a living being and therefore the object of God's care.'' In the third century, Clement of Alexandria asserted that ``those who use abortifacient medicines ... cause not only the outright murder of a fetus but of the whole human race as well.''

Tertullian, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Jerome, St. Augustine and others morally condemned abortion as murder. While Jerome, Augustine and, later, St. Thomas Aquinas theoretically questioned when the soul was given by God, their conclusions reflected a theological judgment that mirrored the most accurate scientific information of the time, when conception hadn't been observed and electron microscopes and ultrasonography hadn't been developed. Nonetheless, in the late 4th century, St. Basil wrote ``the hairsplitting difference between formed or unformed [soul] makes no difference to us. Whoever deliberately commits abortion is subject to the penalty for homicide.''

The point is that while canon law's punishment for the sin of abortion may have varied, the church's teaching has been constant. After the discovery of conception, in 1869 Pope Pius IX removed the formed/unformed distinction from canon law, making excommunication the penalty for all abortion.

The Catholic Church today maintains its opposition to abortion, but reaches out through the sacrament of reconciliation with forgiveness, love and compassion to women who've had abortions.

James E. Parke is pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, and Andrea Sexton is chairwoman for Virginia Society for Human Life, Roanoke Valley Chapter.

by CNB