A new report out today suggests Pope John Paul II’s mother rejected an abortion when pregnant with him.
Under the headline “Blessed John Paul II was in danger of not being born,” the Vatican Insider web site says the information was revealed by Milena Kindziuk in the book just came out.
The report suggests that the future Pope John Paul II was in danger of not being born because of the precarious state of health of his mother Emilia Kaczorowska. The book, “The Mother of the Pope,” indicates Emilia Kaczorowska, married in 1905 with Karol Wojtyla, the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, rejected an abortion.
According to the gynecologist Kindziuk of Wadowice, Jan Moskala, he mother had lost her daughter Olga, who died shortly after giving birth. The report says the doctor advised her to save her own life rather than that of the child conceived when troubles in Pope John Paul II’s pregnancy emerged.
“You have to have an abortion,” the doctor said, according Kindziuk, the mother of Karol Wojtyla.
“Aware of the risks, the parents of John Paul II decided otherwise and Emilia gave birth in the house of Wadowice May 18, 1920. Then, after a long illness, probably of rheumatic diseases, the mother of the future pope died on April 13, 1929,” the report, in Italian, indicates.
Pope John Paul II left behind a very strong pro-life legacy.
Father David O’Connell, President of Catholic University in Washington, told Voice of America that the Pope left behind a pro-life legacy in which he reasserted the moral values the Catholic Church holds dear.
“His talking about abortion reflects his consistent belief and conviction and the consistent belief of the Catholic church in the sacredness of human life and every human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death,” Father O’Connell said.
“And he was unwavering in his speaking about that, writing about that, and dealing with that issue within our world,” Father O’Connell explained.
President George W. Bush noted those pro-life standards when he expressed his condolences on the Pope’s death.
The president said Pope John Paul II “reminded us of our obligation to build a culture of life, in which the strong protect the weak.”
“And during the pope’s final years, his witness was made even more powerful by his daily courage in the face of illness and great suffering,” Bush added.
“He is an inspiration to us all” and a “faithful servant of God and a champion of human dignity and freedom,” President Bush explained.
During the Pope’s tenure, he would consistently reaffirm the church’s opposition to abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.
He encouraged outreach to women considering abortions as well as those who were suffering the physical or emotional trauma of a past abortion.
In March 1995, the Pope issued the Evangelium Vitae, an encyclical which boldly asserted the right to life for all people, regardless of their station in life.
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Weighing into the political realm as the Pope often did, he criticized those politicians who cast votes in favor of abortion.
The Vatican also took strong pro-life positions at the United Nations, consistently opposing use of UN documents to create an international right to abortion and joining the United States in lobbying for a ban on all forms of human cloning.
Dozens of pro-life groups issued statements marking the death of the beloved pontiff at that time, saying that his refusal to compromise on the sanctity of human life will guide the pro-life community for years to come.
“Today we bid farewell to Pope John Paul the Great, the Pope of Life,” Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, said then.
“His teachings will guide and nourish the Church for centuries,” Pavone explained. “In particular, his teachings on the sanctity of life, especially the unborn, will continue to stir our consciences to build a culture of life.”
Wanda Franz, Ph.D., past president of the National Right to Life Committee, said the pope “was an unfaltering voice for the unborn, the disabled and the elderly and was a strong defender of the right to life.”
“His stalwart opposition to the evils of abortion, infanticide and euthanasia was grounded in compassion and love and he will be deeply missed,” Franz added.
Franz said the Pope was often at his happiest when spending time with youth and children at events such as World Youth Day and spreading the message of life. NRLC gave the Pope its highest pro-life award in 1996.
