An American priest, who is
head of the controversial pro-life group Priest for Life, has been
criticised for posting a video of himself standing behind an altar with
an aborted baby in an effort to support Donald Trump. On Monday, Fr Pavone posted a video on Facebook supporting Donald Trump for president.
The video includes a naked, dead baby lying on an altar, as Fr Pavone stands behind the altar, talking about abortion.
“A human being has been sacrificed and the altar of God has been desecrated, all for politics,” Mr Mechmann said in a blog post on the Archdiocese of New York website. “Everyone who respects the dignity of every human person should reject and disavow this atrocity.
“A priest of the Catholic Church publicly displayed on a sacred altar a dead baby who was the victim of a terrible crime as part of a propaganda video in favor of a political candidate,” he said. “It is hard for me to express in calm, measured terms, the revulsion I feel about this.
“The real question is, what about that baby as a human being? That baby is an individual human person, someone’s son or daughter, made in the image and likeness of God, unique and unrepeatable, and deserving of our love and mercy,” he said. “To use her body in this way is to treat that poor lost girl or boy as an object to be used – which is the antithesis of love – and not as a brother or sister to be mourned.”
Fr Thomas Petri, academic Dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, echoed Mr Mechmann.
“The issue here is the dignity of the child that was used, and violating the dignity of his or her body on an altar of God – which is supposed to be used for divine worship. It really is a profane violation,” he told CNA.