Pope Francis airplane press conference, including his comments on abortion and contraception

With all the discussion of Pope Francis comments regarding building walls and Donald Trump other important comments by him have been "overlooked" by most of the media.

Here is a brief video from "Rome Reports" and below some text which was put online by NRO

 

Off NCR:

In a press conference aboard the papal flight to Rome from Mexico, the pontiff was asked if the grave nature of the virus -- which is linked to serious birth defects and is spreading quickly -- might make abortion a "lesser evil" for a mother faced with the choice of having a malformed child.

While the pope firmly rejected the use of abortion, he said that avoiding pregnancy through contraception is not always evil, mentioning that Pope Paul VI had allowed women religious facing horrific situations of violence in Africa to use it.

"Abortion is not a lesser evil," Francis replied to the question. "It is a crime. It gets rid of one to save another. It's what the mafia does. It is a crime. It is an absolute evil."

But the pope continued: "The great Paul VI in a difficult situation in Africa permitted sisters to use contraception for cases of rape."

"Do not confuse the evil of avoiding pregnancy in and of itself with abortion," said Francis. "Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, a medical problem. You kill one person to save another."

"It is an evil in itself," said the pope. "But is not a religious evil, first of all. It is a human evil. Because it is evidently a human evil, like every killing it is condemned."

"Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil," said Francis. "In certain cases, like in that which I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear."

Comments

[Catherine Adago]

You cannot take the most extreme circumstances and then use it as an example of the norm. Which is always a danger if the words of the Pope are taken out of context.The example of Pope Paul the SIXTH is an example of horrific circumstances under which a rare allowance is made. There are still unknowns regarding the ezikia virus.
Artificial birth control has brought and still brings a great deal of danger into women's lives. Young women become sexually active long before they normorally would. Some experience infertility, stroke or even death. Weight gain and Std's are not uncommon. I believe this is a dangerous door to open. Sometimes a great voice of authority leaves certain thing unsaid and in this case concentrates on measures which would eliminate this problem, such as cleaning us stagnate water and yes, even bringing back the use of DDT. When you look back on the facts many intelligent people will tell you the controlled use of DDT saved millions of lives and decreased much suffering. It's removal from the market was based on politic's panic and not fact.