Abortion still a big sin–CBCP

Abortion remains a “grave” offense against moral law, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas, responding to “misleading” reports that Pope Francis had softened the Church’s stance on the issue, stressed that abortion “remains a serious wrong” because terminating the life of the unborn “trespasses the sacred ground that human life is.”

“In the traditional language of older catechisms, it is a mortal sin, a deadly sin,” said Villegas in a post on the CBCP website.

“Not only does it bring death on another, it brings about the spiritual death of one who commits it with full knowledge of its malice and the consequences of this absolutely abhorrent act.”

The Church regards abortion as a grave offense under canon law and anyone who has had an abortion is automatically excommunicated. This does not include unintentional abortions or miscarriages.—Tina G. Santos