We ponder the challenge of a consistent life ethic, and how to live out that commitment in our service to those in need.
Emily Reimer-Barry, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, presented a Webinar with the Title: Beyond Pro-Life/Pro-Choice: Catholic Perspectives on Life Issues.
This talk investigated the identifiers "pro-life" and "pro-choice," asking what these terms mean, and whether they are adequate for the task at hand. Dr. Reimer-Barry explains authoritative Catholic teachings on "life issues," with a special though not exclusive focus on abortion. Drawing on the Catholic intellectual tradition, feminist and womanist authors, and particular case studies, Dr. Reimer-Barry will highlight the need for an approach to life issues that avoids overly simplistic binaries in favor of a model of accompaniment through messy discernments, recognition of ambiguity, and social justice approaches rooted in the common good.1Dean Dettloff, writing in America magazine, reports Canada’s bishops withheld aid from groups they thought had ties to abortion and repairing relationships with these groups is proving difficult. Romain Duguay, the deputy executive director of Development and Peace, said that the relief and development agency shares that D&P is committed to addressing Father Ismael Moreno, S.J. 's concerns.
“The bishops’ concern was disproportionate and misplaced,” Ismael Moreno, S.J., said of the inquiry he received from D&P. Father Moreno is the director of Radio Progreso/Fundación E.R.I.C., a media and human rights ministry in Honduras. D&P’s decision makers suggested “that we are sinners and they are the blameless,” he said, responding by email. “We are the stained ones; they are the flawless ones, and we are saved through them and their truth.” Father Moreno had been asked to clarify articles found on the websites of his organizations. In a fiery reply, which insisted that the discussion should be public rather than confidential, Father Moreno said the editorial line of his organizations does not promote abortion or other issues contrary to Catholic teaching. He acknowledged that some posts have caused confusion, however, and he accepts responsibility for that confusion. But he said that it is also essential to listen to people with other views. Although the precise source of the bishops’ disquiet with some D&P partners has not been publicly acknowledged, many, including former D&P president Jean-Denis Lampron, laid the blame on bishops and lay Catholics provoked by LifeSiteNews, a socially and politically conservative media outlet that has regularly targeted Development and Peace, accusing many of its partners of supporting pro-abortion policies. Mr. Duguay has personally been the target of attacks by LifeSiteNews, but he said its coverage was just part of the reason for the reassessment at D&P. He said the review of both partners and its organizational structures was the result of a long breakdown of trust between the C.C.C.B. and D&P.2Nicholas Austin SJ has described the approach of Pope Francis as 'Discernment charged with merciful love'.
In the beautiful medieval churches of Europe, one often finds an altarpiece in the form of a ‘triptych’: a central painting complemented by two ‘wings’. What Francis offers is a kind of triptych of discernment, gradualness and mercy. That is, he offers a practice, a principle and a virtue. Together these three panels, as it were, form the basis for a pastoral response to the crisis in marriage and the family. Each has appeared in the pope’s previous teaching, but here we begin to see more clearly how they cash-out, and how, when used in concert and applied to particular questions, they have the potential to make a real difference in the life of the Church.3The consistent ethic of life is well served by discernment, gradualness, and mercy in our ministry to include all people in our love.
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