The Anglican Church and the sanctity of life

Yesterday, from the Vatican, there was issued a Common Declaration of Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury His Grace Rowan Williams. The declaration states that "There are many areas of witness and service in which we can stand together" and lists several such as peace in the Holy Land, the poor, materialism, the environment etc. I was surprised to see the following included:
"promoting respect for life from conception until natural death"
In Abortion - A Briefing Paper, issued by the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Division in February 2005, we are given a summary of the Anglican position on abortion:
"The Church of England combines strong opposition to abortion with a recognition that there can be strictly limited conditions under which it may be morally preferable to any available alternative."
The Briefing quotes the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"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 recognised as having the rights of a person among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life."
and then contrasts the Anglican position with this teaching. The Briefing quotes a 1980 statement from the Board for Social Responsibility:
"In the light of our conviction that the foetus has the right to live and develop as a member of the human family, we see abortion, the termination of that life by the act of man, as a great moral evil. We do not believe that the right to life, as a right pertaining to persons, admits of no exceptions whatever; but the right of the innocent to life admits surely of few exceptions indeed."
Surely if we are talking of the right to life of the innocent, this admits of no exceptions? The words "few" and "indeed" in this statement are simply window-dressing once the principle has been allowed that in some cases it is legitimate to kill an innocent person.

The Briefing tells us that
"The Church of England rejects the oversimplification of the debate into 'pro choice' and 'pro life'."
You always know where we are headed when someone says that an absolute moral position is an "oversimplification".

The Briefing quotes the 1993 Synod which said that
"The number of abortions carried out since the passage of the Abortion Act 1967 is unacceptably high."
and states as the current view of the Church of England that
"The abortion law needs to be applied more strictly and the number of abortions carried out drastically reduced."
As ever, when people say that there are "too many abortions", my immediate question is "How many abortions is just about right?"

It is always helpful in such a discussion to take some moral norm that is currently accepted as an absolute and apply the same reasoning. Rightly, there is a general consensus that it is wrong (absolutely) for adults to have sex with children. How would it look if someone said that the ban on sex with children admits of very few exceptions and only under strictly limited conditions? Would you trust someone in your home if they said that the rejection of paedophilia was an oversimplification? Would it sound right if a Church leader said that there was just too much sex with children and that it should be drastically reduced?

In truth, this statement of the position of the Church of England on abortion is, as ever, a compromise so that people of widely differing views will all be able to subscribe to it. Every politician who votes for a liberalisation of the abortion law will tell you that they are against abortion, that it is a very grave decision, always a last resort; but that there are some circumstances in which we have to allow it. If abortion is the killing of an innocent child, there can be no exceptions to the inviolable right of that child to life. To allow exceptions is not to be a little bit less pro-life on a sliding scale between pro-choice and pro-life, it is to overturn the absolute right to life of the innocent human child.

Popular posts from this blog

1962 Missal pdf online

The Church Music Association of America and Jeffrey Tucker of the New Liturgical Movement have made available the 1962 Missal online in pdf format (72Mb). The file is hosted at Musica Sacra , the website of the CMAA, thanks to a generous gift from Fr Robert Skeris While you are at it, take a look at the articles clarifying the rules for music at Low Mass and music at High Mass .
Read more

Plenary indulgences not impossible

Dilexit Prior in Letters from a Young Catholic asked some useful questions today about indulgences. I thought it would be best to do a post here especially to cover the controversial question of detachment from venial sin. But first the other questions: The conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence Pope Paul VI set down a number of norms relating to indulgences at the end of Indulgentiarum Doctrina . Norm 7 states: To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent. If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are “impeded.” It is worth reading the other norms bec
Read more

Request for Novena to Blessed Pius IX

Image
A priest friend of mine is ill in hospital. He has a special devotion to Blessed Pius IX. Could I ask you, of your charity, to say a Novena for his speedy recovery. Novena In Honour of Blessed Pius IX Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, hear our prayers and glorify your servant Pius IX, who consecrated the Universal Church to you. (Our Father...) O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, hear our prayer and glorify your servant Pius IX who declared you Immaculate. (Hail Mary...) Saint Joseph, spouse of the most pure Virgin Mary, hear our prayer and glorify your servant Pius IX who declared you the Patron of the Universal Church. (Glory be...) Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Mary, our Hope, and Saint Joseph hear our prayers and glorify your servant Pius IX , granting to us through his merits and intercessions the graces which we ardently desire: that the glory of God be revealed through Father's illness. (Our Father..., Hail Mary..., Glory be
Read more

Saint Gabriel

Image
The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai
Read more

God bless America!

Image
I wish you all a very happy Fourth of July over there in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I thought I was a bit late but then realised that it is still early evening for you. I hope you had an enjoyable day. For the video this year, here is Kate Smith IN 1938 introducing the new composition "God Bless America."
Read more