Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
May 11, 2009

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has said that President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office have not confirmed the church’s worst fears about radical policy changes in ethical areas. The newspaper wrote in its April 29 edition that the new president has operated in most areas with more caution than predicted. “On ethical questions, too—which from the time of the electoral campaign have been the subject of strong worries by the Catholic bishops—Obama does not seem to have confirmed the radical innovations that he had discussed,” it said.

The article noted that the administration’s new draft guidelines for stem-cell research, for example, do not constitute the major change in policy that was foreseen a few months ago, writing that while the new guidelines “do not remove the reasons for criticism in the face of unacceptable forms of bioengineering” they are “less permissive” than expected. The newspaper also saw a positive sign in the recent introduction of the Pregnant Women Support Act, pressed by congressional pro-life Democrats. “It is not a negation of the doctrine expressed up to now by Obama in the matter of interruption of pregnancy, but the legislative project could represent a rebalancing in support of maternity,” the newspaper said.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024