Theologian says difficult to judge politicians sinful over abortion

Published: 2004-09-24

ROME (CNS) -- It is generally very difficult for theologians to impute sinful behavior to politicians based on their position on abortion, and even more difficult when it comes to voters, said a respected theologian. Redemptorist Father Brian Johnstone, an Australian moral theologian, said that in the current U.S. debate over politics and abortion, church authorities should be careful not to prejudge the consciences of whole categories of people. The circumstances of the abortion-politics issue are often so complex that ultimately it's the individual Catholic who must weigh all the factors and "take personal responsibility for his own seeking the truth," Father Johnstone said in an interview Sept. 23. Father Johnstone, who teaches at Rome's Alphonsianum University, has a special interest in the issue. It was the founder of the Redemptorist order, St. Alphonsus Liguori, who in the 18th century refined the theological concepts of "formal cooperation" and "material cooperation" in evil -- terms that are at the center of the current controversy over abortion and politics. The application of these terms to politicians and voters is unusual in classical theology and was not envisioned by St. Alphonsus, who lived at a time when the legality of abortion was not an issue, Father Johnstone said.

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