Pope Praises Abortion Activist

In an interview on February 8, 2016, with one of Italy’s most prominent dailies, Corriere Della Serra, Pope Francis praised Italy’s leading proponent of abortion – Emma Bonino — as one of the nation’s “forgotten greats,” comparing her to great historical figures such as Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman.

Massimo Franco reports for Corriere Della Serra in “Francis: ‘I Embrace My Orthodox Brethren’,” Feb. 8, 2016,,………..Francis named ‘among the greats of today’s Italy’ former President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino . . . .pictured above,  Knowing that his praise of the radical leader [Bonino] may be controversial, Francis argues that ‘she is the person who knows Africa better than anyone and offered the best advice to Italy on learning about Africa.’ Admitting that ‘it is true she [Bonino] thinks very differently from us,’ Francis said, ‘But never mind. We have to look at people, at what they do.‘”

So what is it that Emma Bonino, the woman hailed by Pope Francis as “one of the greats of today’s Italy,” does?

According to Wikipedia, Emma Bonino, 67, is an Italian politician, who most recently served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Previously she was a member of the European Parliament and a member of the Italian Senate. She served in the government of Italy as minister of international trade from 2006 to 2008. She is a leading member of the Italian Radicals, a political party that is economically libertarian and culturally left on moral issues.

What Wikipedia omits is filled in by John Henry-Westen of LifeSiteNews:

At 27, Bonino had an illegal abortion and then worked with the Information Centre on Sterilization and Abortion which boasted over 10,000 abortions. There are famous photos of Bonino performing illegal abortions using a homemade device operated by a bicycle pump.  Arrested for the then-illegal activity she spent a few days in jail and was acquitted and entered politics.

When she was appointed Italy’s foreign minister in 2013 there was a general outcry from life and family leaders at the appalling situation.

As Henry-Westen reports, reacting to Pope Francis’ praise of Bonino, pro-life leaders in Italy expressed disbelief.

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro, who was until last year the head of the Rome office of Human Life International, said: “How can the pope praise a woman that is best known in Italy for practicing illegal abortion and promoting abortion?”

Luca Volonte, an Italian politician and the president of the pro-life Novae Terrae Foundation, while saying the Pope “was wrong,” blamed Francis’ secretariat for not informing him “about how much Mrs. Bonino has done in Italy and at the international level to promote abortion and euthanasia.”