{"id":79734,"date":"2013-08-07T05:21:28","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T10:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/?post_type=post&p=79734"},"modified":"2013-08-07T05:21:28","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T10:21:28","slug":"cardinal-omalley-explains-the-popes-silence-on-abortion-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/08\/cardinal-omalley-explains-the-popes-silence-on-abortion-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal O\u2019Malley explains the pope\u2019s silence on abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From National Catholic Reporter:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that Catholics \u201clove people\u201d and are not \u201cmean or old-fashioned,\u201d Boston Cardinal Sean O\u2019Malley has said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>O\u2019Malley, the only North American Francis asked to serve on a group of eight cardinals advising him on reforming the church, made the comments during a keynote address Tuesday in San Antonio at the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people think that the Holy Father should talk more about abortion,\u201d O\u2019Malley told approximately 2,000 attendees, according to a copy of the remarks posted online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he speaks of love and mercy to give people the context for the Church\u2019s teaching on abortion,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe oppose abortion, not because we are mean or old fashioned, but because we love people. And that is what we must show the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley\u2019s focus on explaining the pope\u2019s lack of abortion talk may be seen by some as a reaction by the cardinal to recent reports that some American Catholics have been underwhelmed by the new pope\u2019s emphases, which have also not highlighted other more controversial Catholic teachings on issues like gay marriage or divorce and remarriage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From text posted on the Knights of Columbus website: \u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Recently I read about an American relief worker in Africa, who reported on being at a camp for a food distribution line, it was very chaotic, even scary. He could see that they were running out of food and that these starving people were desperate. At the end of the line, the last person was a little nine year old girl. All that was left was one banana. They handed it to her. She peeled the banana and gave half each to her younger brother and sister. Then she licked the banana peel. The relief worker said at that moment he began to believe in God.<\/p>\n

We must be better people; we must love all people, even those who advocate abortion. It is only if we love them that we will be able to help them discover the sacredness of the life of an unborn child. Only love and mercy will open hearts that have been hardened by the individualism of our age.<\/p>\n

\u2026The Church\u2019s teaching is about loving and caring for everyone. In his talk to the Brazilian bishops last week, Pope Francis said: \u201cWe need a Church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of mercy. Without mercy we have little chance nowadays of entering the world of wounded persons in need of understanding, forgiveness and love.\u201d The Holy Father alludes to Cardinal Kasper\u2019s work on mercy when he says that mercy without truth would be consolation without honesty and is empty chatter.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, however, the truth without mercy would be cold, offputting and ready to wound. The truth isn\u2019t a wet rag that you throw in someone\u2019s face, but a warm cape that you wrap around a person, to protect and strengthen them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest of the speech.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From National Catholic Reporter:\u00a0 Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that Catholics \u201clove people\u201d and are not \u201cmean or old-fashioned,\u201d Boston Cardinal Sean O\u2019Malley has said. O\u2019Malley, the only North American Francis asked to serve on a group of eight cardinals advising him on reforming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope"],"yoast_head":"\nCardinal O\u2019Malley explains the pope\u2019s silence on abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From National Catholic Reporter:\u00a0 Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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