Pope Benedict Condemns Abortion as Murder in New Interview 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 14, 2006
The Vatican (LifeNews.com) — In a wide-ranging interview given ahead of a planned trip to Germany next month, Pope Benedict XVI said the Catholic Church provides a very positive view of life while it strongly condemns abortion as murder. The pontiff spokes with German reporters on August 5 and the interview is just now being released to the public.
Saying the Catholic Church should not be seen as a "collection of prohibitions," Pope Benedict strongly condemned abortion.
"Christianity, Catholicism isn’t a collection of prohibitions: it’s a positive option," Benedict said. "We’ve heard so much about what is not allowed that now it’s time to say: we have positive ideas to offer."
"As far as abortion is concerned, it’s part of the fifth, not the sixth, commandment: ‘You shall not kill," the pontiff explained.
"We have to presume this is obvious and always stress that the human person begins in the mother’s womb and remains a human person until his or her last breath," he said.
"The human person must always be respected as a human person. But all this is clearer if you say it first in a positive way," Pope Benedict added.
The pope spokes with reporters from the three public German television broadcasters ARD, ZDF and Deutsche Welle as well as Vatican Radio. The interview was taped at his summer retreat south of Rome.
In addition to Germany, the pope is headed to Turkey in November and Brazil next year.
