I dag møtte pave Benedkit Nancy Pelosi rett etter den vanlige onsdags-audiensen. Og Vatikanet gjorde noe så sjeldent som å kunnegjøre rett etter møtet, at alle mennesker har retten til å leve fra unnfangelsen av. Slik leser vi på Vatikanets nettsider:
Following the General Audience the Holy Father briefly greeted Mrs Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage.
His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development.
Nancy Pelosi er Speaker of the House of Representatives i USA, og en aktiv katolikk som støtter fri abort. John Allen skriver om hvordan paven håndterte dette møtet (der det heller ble ikke gitt anledning til å ta bilder):
Pope’s meeting with Pelosi a classic Vatican ‘both/and’
Pope Benedict XVI’s much-awaited encounter this morning with U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, perhaps the most prominent pro-choice Catholic in America, amounted to a classic Vatican “both/and” exercise, striving to balance the demands of external diplomacy and internal church discipline.
By meeting Pelosi, Benedict signaled that he wants lines of communication to remain open with the new American leadership, even if the Vatican has deep differences with its policies on the “life issues.”
OPPDATERING 19/2:
Vårt Land skriver i dag (ganske godt syns jeg) om dette møtet, og har følgende overskrift:
Fikk abort-leksjon av paven
Benedikt XVI ber politikere beskytte menneskelivet fra unnfangelsen av. Demokraten Nancy Pelosi er taus om abort etter møte med paven.