In the Church, they warn that there will be a before and an after in the government’s relationship with the Pope if abortion legalization is approved

The eventual approval of the legalization of abortion will mean a before and an after in the relationship of Pope Francis and the Church of the country with the government. The prediction, made for Bugle by a high-ranking Argentine bishop, implies that the Casa Rosada will open a critical front with the most important Argentinian in the world, who had tried to facilitate the crucial negotiations for the debt with the IMF. And with an episcopate and villero priests, who play a key role in the social depreciation by the effects of the severe economic crisis, aggravated by the pandemic.

The effects of deterioration of the link this would result in the sanction of the law – according to the source – would not be seen immediately. We should not expect – he added – a thunderclap from the Pontiff and the Church the day after a favorable vote in the Senate. It would be so simply because it is not the style of a millennial institution. But they would be reflected over time – he ended – in demonstrative words and gestures. In other words, in 2021, a key election year for the ruling party, the government would have the Pope and the Church against it.

The bishops’ overwhelming concern over the very likely approval of abortion legalization was highlighted ahead of a critical document which will air this Tuesday. At the start – as planned Bugle a week ago, the possibility of including issues such as judicial independence, the weight of adjustment on the most vulnerable sectors and the degradation of education was considered. However, the criterion of devote oneself exclusively to abortion and to do so with very strong words and an indisputable criticism of the government for its promotion.

The other criticisms would only be postponed. Now the urgency would be to condemn “Legalization of a homicide”, to question – as he did a month ago – his desirability after a year of severe pandemic, but to add his “political advantage”. In other words, to have turned it into an offer for a sector of society in a year with little government achievement and into a “smoke screen” against adjustment measures such as the recalculation of the increase in retirees. Further, to clarify that You cannot say that you are Catholic and vote for abortion.

Another symptomatic data is the deep discomfort of the villero priests, perhaps the ecclesiastical sector which until now was closest to Alberto Fernández. “It is scandalous that while we are working to ensure that people can eat in the midst of the pandemic, they are coming to us with the abortion proposal,” the father told Radio Miter. Pepe Di Paola, the most famous of this group. Yet they did not want to be mere spectators and decided contact the vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – who says she values ​​her social work very much – to try to get her to oppose.

The discomfort of the Pope and the bishops contrasts with a widespread belief in the ruling party that this is a temporary dispute. That basically the Church has expected for some time that the bill will be law and that history will continue its course. After all, a spokesperson said, if approved on the 29th of this month, there will be a vacation period that will help loosen the tie. “In March, we will be debating other things,” he predicted. The bishop consulted does not agree: “Those who say such a thing – he warns – do not know Jorge Bergoglio.”

In the ecclesiastical media, they remember the Pope’s recent letter of response to another of his former students at the Colegio de la Inmaculada, in Santa Fe, in which they told him that there were those who believed in their country who it was not clear and forceful to condemn the project. Francisco told them that this was part of “a story” and a “manipulation” that ignores their firm and repeated opposition, because “it is not morally legal to take out a life to solve a problem” and that calling for an abortion is like hiring a hitman “.

In any case, it is underlined that the spearhead of the opposition corresponds to the Argentine Church, as always happens in every country when faced with a question which clashes with Catholic postulates. “It is true that the Pope is Argentinian, but he is the Pope of all Catholics and, in a way, should be placed above, although not inconsistent, which in Argentina is difficult to understand because some want to see it on a daily basis in the first line of battle, ”explained an ecclesiastical source.

It also highlights the fact that “no investigation has shown that the green cause is in the majority” and it is noted that the government ignores the damage that the eventual approval of the project will do to the Pope in the more conservative sector of the country. Vatican and the World Church. It is well known that this current – although in the minority – is very active in questioning the profile of the pontiff’s openness. “On the one hand, the president says he admires her and asks for her help and on the other hand he hurts her,” said the source.

The storm is looming.