Albacete: on Abortion/Torture, Catholic Church "only coherent position in debate"

Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete is a priest-scientist and one of the leaders of the movement Communion and Liberation in the United States.

In his column of yesterday, Msgr. Albacete makes an excellent point which I think is very topical to several ongoing AmP debates:

"The only coherent position in the debate about these two issues [of abortion and torture] is that of the Catholic Church. On the one hand, religious conservatives tend to be more open to the possibility of approving torture in special circumstances, while the secularists concede no such possibility of compromise. Only those who embrace the position of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church condemn equally both abortion and torture in all cases. Other Catholics (many serving in Congress and in the Obama Administration) follow the secularist arguments condemning torture but defending abortion rights. The President, who professes an abstract "middle ground" on abortion, unequivocally condemns torture in all circumstances.

... For the Catholic Church, faith is the origin of the moral judgment, but faith is not separate from reason. It can and should be verified by a rightly understood reason in all human beings. The Catholic Bishops are still searching for effective ways to make this argument.

I take that line as a commission: let us help the bishops discover effective ways to make this argument in the public forum, with confidence and charity. I think we typically have more trouble with the former.

{update: I knew this would be to open another can of worms. So let me clarify:

What I specifically agree with in this article is this: Those who think torture is intrinsically wrong evacuate their justification of tolerating abortion when they seek to universally outlaw torture.

In other words, how can Obama (and secularists) "unequivocally condemn torture in all circumstances" and yet posit an "abstract 'middle ground' on abortion" which tolerates its practice (and even expands access to it)?

The only way I can see reconciling the two positions is to frankly acknowledge that Obama and secularists don't really think abortion is wrong. Because if they did, they would treat it like torture and universally outlaw it.

I'm surprised to have to make this point, but it's amazing how often one will still hear something like: "Obama agrees with us that abortion is a tragedy, but he just can't see a way of preventing a woman from choosing it."

That's what I was going for. I think the torture debate is important, but let's not miss how it provides a devastating contrast when it comes to our ongoing debate about the fundamental right to life of our citizens.}