Vatican Tempests. The Academy for Life Puts Its Neck on the Line

ROME, February 8, 2010 – In a few days, from February 11 to 13, a meeting will be held at the Vatican of the pontifical academy for life, the president of which is Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella (in the photo).

The meeting promises to be a stormy one. Some of the members of the academy are openly questioning whether Fisichella is fit to be president. Foremost among them is Monsignor Michel Schooyans, Belgian, professor emeritus of the Catholic University of Louvain, a respected specialist in anthropology, political philosophy, bioethics. He is a member of three pontifical academies: for social sciences, of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and – most relevant here – for life. Pope Joseph Ratzinger knows and admires him. In 1997, as cardinal prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, he wrote a preface to one of his books: "L'Évangile face au désordre mondial."

In view of the meeting, Schooyans has written a scathing critique of the "trap" into which he believes also Fisichella has fallen: the deceptive use of the concept of "compassion."

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