On Spiritual Fat—and is An Unborn Child a Person, or Not? by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, May 30, 2023

Several us here have been wondering what Pope Francis was trying to say when he responded to a question about abortion in his recent interview with Telemundo (Pope, in interview, describes unborn child as ‘a living being, I’m not saying a person’). One wag suggested that perhaps Pope Francis did not want to call a pre-born baby a “person” from the moment of conception because he or she is not yet capable of acting “synodally”. In any case, it’s a good thing to wonder about.

We cannot resolve this question definitively, of course. That would require mindreading. But we know two things about Pope Francis: First, he has frequently upheld the identity of the baby in the womb as a person. Second, he has frequently spoken confusedly during interviews, betraying an inability to respond clearly off-the-cuff—an inability that suggests his interviews should be rare or non-existent. None of this is news to us. …

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