Australian cardinal criticizes proposed carbon tax on babies

Published: 2008-01-25

PERTH, Western Australia (CNS) -- Australian Cardinal George Pell of Sydney has criticized the Australian Medical Association for publishing a letter by a professor of medical obstetrics advocating a tax on children for their carbon footprints. "I am not sure what is more extraordinary -- that an obstetrician could hold such a view or that a leading medical journal could publish such a view," Cardinal Pell said. He said the concern "for the physical ecology of the world is not always matched by a similar concern for the moral ecology of our societies." "But either way, this is a striking illustration of where a minority, neopagan, anti-human mentality wants to take us," he said in Seoul, South Korea, in mid-January, as he accepted an award from the Archdiocese of Seoul for his anti-abortion work. His remarks were reported by The Record, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth. Cardinal Pell said such "extreme environmental proposals are expressions of modern society's deep confusion about the place and value of the human person in the world." "They should be warning bells for us," he added.

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