Pope Raps US on Abortion, Suicide
The AGE, 28 January, 1999
ST LOUIS, WEDNESDAY
The Pope and Pres. Bill Clinton in St LouisPope John Paul II told the United States today it faces a test of "national character" in confronting such issues as abortion and assisted suicide.
Arriving in St Louis after a five-day visit to Mexico, the 78-year-old Pontiff was greeted by President Bill Clinton - who made a wish in the Pope’s native Polish that he enjoy another 100 years of life.
The first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, was also on hand to greet the Pope.
Mr Clinton praised the Pope as one who "for 20 years has lifted our spirits and touched our hearts ... people still need to hear your message, that all are God’s children. - that all the injustices of the past cannot excuse a single injustice today".
The Pope said the US, which had faced "tests of national character" in the past such as its struggle with slavery, "faces a similar time of trial today".
"Today the conflict is between a culture that reaffirms, cherishes and celebrates the gift of life and a culture that seeks to declare entire groups of human beings - the unborn, the terminally ill, the handicapped and others considered ‘unuseful’ - to be outside the boundaries of legal protection," he said. "Only a higher moral vision can motivate the’ choice for life."
The Pope’s prepared remarks, distributed in advance to journalists in St Louis, contained a strongly worded section urging the US to "resist the culture of death" and reject every form of violence, including armed conflict.
But the Pope, standing next to Mr Clinton in a military hangar tat normally houses F-15 fighter planes, did not include the section in his speech.
The Pope has been critical of the US policy towards Iraq.
During the Pope’s Mexican visit, chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navaro said military measures such as the air strikes against Iraq "just make things worse".
After the arrival ceremony, the Pope and Mr Clinton held a private meeting during which Iraq and other international issues were expected to be discussed.
The Pope also urged the people of the US to reassert and reaffirm "the truths and values of the American experience" summed up in the phrase "The Spirit of St Louis" - the name of the single-engine plane in which Charles Lindbergh made the first transatlantic crossing seven decades ago.
He noted that in the 19th century, a court decision in Missouri reaffirmed slavery. Commenting on this legacy, the Pope said: "After untold suffering and with enormous effort, that situation has, at least in part, been reversed."
REUTERS