Abortion and Martyrdom

This work is a collection of papers delivered at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes in 1999. They address the issue of whether the Magisterium of the Church should acknowledge children killed by abortion as "martyr companions of the Holy Innocents." The issue has arisen because a woman who lives in London, Patricia de Menezes, claims to have received private revelations from Our Lady calling for such a declaration. The work presents arguments for and against the proposition. "I find the argumentation impressive ... I am sure that this study could continue and would be of real service to the Church. It would certainly be of direct relevance to the plague of abortion, which is not only evil in itself, but also conducive to a climate and culture which can really be called a 'culture of death' and which manifests itself in so many ways in today's world, particularly in the field of biogenetics and so-called theurapeutic cloning. The practice of abortion has not only killed unborn children, it has also killed, or at least anaesthetised, consciences in respect of the sacredness and inviolability of human life." -- Cardinal Cahal B. Daly

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