The Vatican responded to criticism over its newly appointee to the Pontifical Academy For Life, Nigel Bigar.
The Vatican last Monday released a statement, regarding their appointees to the academy for life, in total roughly 50 were selected and out of those was Nigel Biggar, a religious professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology and Director of the McDonald Center for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at the University of Oxford.
The Academy for Life defends the Catholic Church’s pro-life stance; Biggar, however, has previously suggested that he backs abortion up until the fetus is 18 weeks old. Biggar said in a 2011 interview with philosopher Peter Singer for StandPoint magazine that 18 weeks after conception is where he would “draw the line for abortion.”
The leader of the Pontifical Academy For Life, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, responded to the claims in an interview with the Vatican Insider by stating;
“The nomination of Professor Biggar was directly recommended by the Primate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who was recently asked to single out a representative,” said Paglia in a June 19 interview with Vatican Insider’s Andrea Tornielli.
“The controversy was born following the rediscover [sic] of a 2011 dialogue between Biggar and Peter Singer’s [sic], who is renown for his permissible views on abortion, in which he says to be inclined to draw the line for abortion at 18 weeks after conception, in terms of — and I quote — ‘maintaining a strong social commitment to preserving human life in hindered forms, and in terms of not becoming too casual about killing human life,’” continued Paglia.
“This is certainly not my personal position, and much less the Academy. It should be added, however, that Biggar, whom we have contacted these days, has published nothing on the subject of abortion — Biggar’s academic focus is rather on end-of-life matters, ‘where he has a position that coincides with Catholicism — Biggar also assured that he does not intend to enter into the debate on this issue in the future,’” he added.
Paglia called Catholics ‘foolish’ for thinking Biggar’s appointment dictated that the Catholic Church was changing its stance on abortion.
“It would be foolish to even think of a change. The Pontifical Academy for Life, as specified in the new Statute signed by Pope Francis, aims at ‘promoting and defending human life and the dignity of the person’ through research, training and education (Article 1). We are therefore serving and defending life, from the very first moment of its conception to the last breath. Nothing and no one will ever change this clear orientation. We will go everywhere to convince as many as possible,” he said.
“In this sense, the Academy is also called ‘to come out,’” Paglia said, speaking of Biggar’s appointment. “I would like to repeat that again: We will always be against every abortion practice. And we want to get more and more personalities involved in this battle. There is a need to broaden both the people and the battles. The big issues that mark our time must be addressed together, patiently earning the utmost possible consensus,” he added.
Interestingly enough, as LifeSiteNews pointed out; Paglia is himself shrouded in controversy; “The phrase “to come out” is used almost exclusively by the homosexual lobby when speaking about those who make a public declaration of their same-sex attraction or relationship with someone of the same sex”
Paglia has been involved in several scandalous actions;
Commissioning a massive homoerotic painting in his Cathedral in which he appeared clasped to a semi-naked man.
Overseeing the release of the Vatican’s sex-ed program The Meeting Point that bypassed parents as the primary educators of their children and contained sexually explicit images and movie recommendations.
Expressing unqualified admiration during a public debate for deceased Italian Radical Party founder Marco Pannella, one of the country’s most notorious proponents of the culture of death.
You decide, is the Vatican’s true nature finally coming to the forefront of Catholicism? What say you reader?
Just what I’d expect from the new ‘False Prophet’ Vatican!