Episode 4： Did Pope Francis really praise leading abortionist？
Episode Stats
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Summary
In 2016, Pope Francis praised Italy's leading abortion proponent, Emma Bonino, as one of the nation's forgotten greats. Pro-life leaders in Italy were shocked by the remarks, and some even accused the Pope of knowing about Bonino's illegal abortion practices. But canon law says that the laity have the right to express their views on matters which concern the good of the Church.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to the John Henry Weston Show. I'm the co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSite
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News. This show will air every Tuesday. The show is available by video on the John Henry Weston
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Show YouTube channel and on my LifeSite blog and our Facebook pages. The audio version of the show
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platform. But most important, we've created a special email list for the show so that we can
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notify you every week when we post a new episode. Please sign up now, either on the John Henry Weston
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Show YouTube channel or on my LifeSite blog. Every week we will also be publishing the full
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transcript on my LifeSite blog in case you prefer to read the content. However, the show was created
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for video in order to show you directly the evidence of what I'm discussing. So I encourage
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you first and foremost to watch the video commentaries.
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Pope Francis' praise for Italy's leading abortion pusher, herself an illegal abortionist.
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Hi, I'm John Henry Weston, co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSite News.
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At LifeSite, we are very aware of the seriousness of criticizing the Pope. However, Canon Law at
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number 212, number 3, speaks about this matter when it says that the laity, and I quote,
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have the right indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position,
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to manifest to the sacred pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church.
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Canon Law adds, they have the right also to make their views known to others of Christ's
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faithful. But in doing so, they must always respect the integrity of faith and morals,
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show due reverence to the pastors, and take into account both the common good and the dignity
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of individuals, end quote. So let's start with a prayer. In the name of the Father, of the Son,
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On February 8th, 2016, one of Italy's most prominent dailies, Corriera della Sera, published
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an interview with Pope Francis in which he praised Italy's leading abortion proponent,
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Emma Bonino, as one of the nation's forgotten greats, comparing her to great historical figures
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such as Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schumann. More than that, the Pope has met with Bonino
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on several occasions, and her close association with the Pope has even led her to speaking
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at several Catholic churches in Italy, all the while being the chief promoter of abortion
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Here is the poster of her presentation in 2017 at one Catholic church, and the video of her
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talk there, where pro-life protesters in the audience were thrown out of the church.
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And here is the video of her still promoting abortion in 2018.
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In order to understand the gravity of all this, you'd have to imagine the Pope called Hillary
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Clinton one of America's forgotten greats. But that would only work if Hillary started out
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as an illegal abortionist herself. That's why the pro-life movement in Italy was stunned
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and horrified at the Pope's remarks. Responding to the Pope's praise of Bonino,
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pro-life leaders in Italy expressed disbelief. And I quote,
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How can the Pope praise a woman that is best known in Italy for practicing illegal abortion
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and promoting abortion? commented Monsignor Ignacio Barrero, who then was the head of the
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Rome Office of Human Life International. As I've said before, pro-life and pro-family leaders
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would be rejoicing if the Holy Father was meeting with abortionists and promoters of abortion
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if it was clear that he was calling them to repentance. Without that, we are left with grave
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confusion. Suggestions that the Pope did not know about Bonino's controversial stances
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are dismissed by Italians since she was famously arrested for illegal abortions and then became a
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politician who led the fight for the legalization of abortion in the nation. Beyond that, Pope Francis
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has been acquainted with Bonino and her radical party leadership for years and been openly criticized
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for his warm relations with them. In her capacity as Italian foreign minister, Bonino, along with
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President Giorgio Napolitano and his key ministers, was granted an audience with the Pope on June 8,
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2013. In April 2014, Bonino called Pope Francis to help end the hunger strike of radical party leader
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Marco Panella. The Pope made the call and promised to join Panella in his bid to better conditions in
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Italian prisons. In May 2015, Vatican Insider reported that Pope Francis personally invited Bonino
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Bonino to an audience in the Paul VI Hall. Bonino had herself an illegal abortion as a young woman,
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and then co-founded and worked with the Information Center on Sterilization and Abortion, which boasts
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over 10,000 abortions. There are famous photos of Bonino herself performing illegal abortions using a
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homemade device operated by a bicycle pump. Arrested for illegal activity, she spent a few days in jail
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and was acquitted and entered politics. As a politician, she championed abortion, euthanasia,
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homosexual marriage, legalization of recreational drugs, graphic sex education, and more.
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She's great friends with international abortion pusher and globalist George Soros, who actually,
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as you'll see in this video, gave her an award for women's rights. Pope Francis admires Bonino's work
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with immigration. However, as Christian politicians increasingly struggled to remain true to pro-life
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and pro-family stances in public office and endure much criticism, it was harmful for the Pope to openly
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praise, without clear and necessary qualifications, a politician such as Bonino. It undermines the sacrifices many
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pro-life politicians have made, and may even bring them to question the need to remain solid in their
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voting patterns. It also undermines decades of heroic efforts by Italian pro-life leaders who had
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actively opposed Bonino's anti-life and anti-family actions. The U.S. bishops highlight the problem
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that all this causes in their 2004 document called Catholics in Political Life.
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Our obligation as bishops at this time is to teach clearly. End quote.
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They said later in the document that they must warn and counsel politicians that by supporting
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abortion they are cooperating in evil. Moreover, they said that persistently pro-abortion politicians
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should not be honored by the Catholic community and by Catholic institutions. The bishop's document
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directed that such politicians, and I quote, should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would
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suggest support for their actions. End quote. Remember, at LifeSite, we're all about caritas in
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veritate, the truth and love. And that is what we are after. For LifeSite News, I'm John Henry Weston,