A Feb. 12 Catholic News Service article portrayed her as being at ease with how the situation currently stands within the PAV. But, de Vollmer emphasized to CNA, it is important to note that she had been interviewed on Feb. 9 and before the assembly where Archbishop Fisichella had made his “incendiary” statements.
The Academy for Life member charged that the CNS article “manipulated my statement to look as if I was 'satisfied that the issue was closed' (and) to look as if it had been made after the PAV meeting, when in fact it was said before the Archbishop’s incendiary speech insulting an important number of Members.”
A CNS spokesperson told CNA that the Agency "stands by its original reporting" and emphasized that "we clearly state in our Feb. 12 story that we interviewed Ms. Vollmer on Feb. 9. Nowhere in our story did we infer that Ms. Vollmer had spoken with us during or following the academy meeting. There was no indication in our story that Ms. Vollmer's comments on Feb. 9 represented her views on Feb. 12."
"There was no indication that there was any discontent in the meeting until Ms. Vollmer and her cohorts circulated the letter to the press on Feb. 18," CNS explained.
Christine de Vollmer also spoke on the significance of the backlash from the Archbishop's statements in the L'Osservatore Romano article, stressing that “the fallacy of Archbishop Fisichella’s position, stated in the original OR article and then of course defended in his tirade at the members who dared to request a clarification, was not only that abortion 'to save her life' was justified, but contains a perhaps more dangerous assumption: that the ‘moral decision’ is up to the doctor in cases of health.”
“It was absolutely imperative to point out that the CDF had not backed up his original article, but had felt it necessary to issue a clarification,” de Vollmer stressed.
When asked whether or not Academy members are explicitly calling for Archbishop Fisichella's resignation in their letter, de Vollmer told CNA that the “signers are not the ones who can call for the Archbishop’s resignation. That is the province of the Holy Father. We did express the hope that the Holy Father would reassign this brilliant man to a position more suited to his talents.”
“I think it must be a very difficult situation for the Holy Father to have in such a position a man who is not clear himself on the issue of Abortion and on the 'conscience of the doctor' and who could express what he did in his first article in the OR and then stick to it, even after one year and the whole Clarification process,” noted de Vollmer.
Other signatories of the letter include Professor Luke Gormally, Monsignor Michel Schooyans, Dr. Maria Smereczynska, and Dr. Thomas Ward.
Another pro-life leader has also voiced her agreement with the letter. Judie Brown, head of the American Life League, said on Thursday, “This statement, issued February 16 2010, is not only accurate but principled, courageous and definitive.”
“I stand with my five fellow Academy members and pray to God that Archbishop Rino Fisichella ultimately sees the damage created by his imprudent comments of the past, publicly corrects them and reconciles with those Academy members who have taken this public position in an effort to bring healing based on Christ’s truth rather than church politics.”
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To read the full statement issued by the five Pontifical Academy for Life members, please visit: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/document.php?n=961.