The Catholic Church and abortion. Some interesting history.

[beachmom]

I am posting this in the Kerry forum, because frankly, this issue hurt Kerry in 2004, and a lot of it stemmed from the Catholic Church giving him a hard time. Well, it ends up that what I had heard vaguely is in fact true: the Catholic Church wasn't as sure when "life" began as they are now:

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/10/catholic-position-on-abortion.html

From a column by Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, and author of the Encyclopdia of Catholicism (2007):

The abortion question entered into a new phase during the Middle Ages. St. Anselm of Canterbury gave the most forceful statement in favor of the delayed hominization thesis: "No human intellect accepts the view that an infant has the rational soul from the moment of conception." St. Thomas Aquinas also accepted Aristotle's theory of the late appearance of the human soul in the fetus. He taught that the abortion of a fetus before it has the human soul is a sin against marriage but that it is not murder. The famous medieval jurist Gratian wrote, "He is not a murderer who brings about abortion before the soul is in the body."

His larger assertion is that Joe Biden had a point when he suggested that Catholic doctrine about abortion has shifted.

Yes, we live in more extreme times than the Middle Ages.

[MBS]

1. yup, the Catholic Church used to be more reasonable, even in

my lifetime (not just in middle ages. . : )). What's weirdest of all is the OBSESSION with this single issue among conservative Catholics and many in the hierarchy, to the exclusion of all other topics (Archbishop O'Malley's comments about Palin's infant are just plain bizarre. . )

Check out the Catholic Democrats website; they're working hard to redress the balance. And the group contains priests, etc, too. This too shall pass (not fast enough for me, but the trend is hopeful)
http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/

[beachmom]

2. Thanks for the link. There is no Georgia chapter, sadly.

It also said Obama is leading by 10 the Catholic vote. Interesting. I hope that holds.