Vatican City, Apr 19, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Italian Vatican analyst Sandro Magister is releasing a long dialogue Cardinal Martini sustained with Ignazio Marino, famous Italian bio-ethicist, and director of the Center of transplants of the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, about abortion, in-vitro fecundation and contraception
And the answer is: “not immediatly with conception, but after” said Cardinal Martini, about when life starts, “with the consequences that derive from it,” added Magister. The long dialogue between the two men will be released in the next issue of the weekly “L’espresso,” a center-left weekly tomorrow, it will be made available by Sandro Magister in his website in English
The Jesuit Cardinal, now 79, a great specialist of Holy Scriptures, and former Archbishop of Milan from 1979 to 2002, lives today in Jerusalem, where he resumed his biblical studies. During the pontificate of John Paul II, Cardinal Martini was known to be the preeminent representante of the “progressive” opposition. The same opinion continues to be circulate about him regarding the new pope.
On the issues tackled in the dialogue, Cardinal Martini seldom expressed his views, even during the heated debate in his country about allowing artificial fecundation. He questionned the Church’s official position who is intransigent in defending “each human life from conception to naturla death, with no exception.
Precisely, Cardinal Martini approves the use of “ovocites at the state of two pronucleus.” According to him and Professor Marino, at this stage following fecundation, “no singular and definit sign of human life appears, it’s not an embryo yet and therefore it can be manipulated with no formal moral objection.”
On euthanasia, he says “We can never approve of it,” but he adds we shouldn’t “condemn persons that carries out such an act on the demand of persons reduced and by pure altruistic feelings.”
He advocates for the same respect for persons who follow their consciences in these extreme cases.”
The full article can be read in Italian: www.chiesa.espressonline.it/index.jsp?eng=y