Pope Francis has conferred the title of “Commander of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great” on Lilianne Ploumen, a Dutch politician and vocal agitator for abortion rights.There have to be ‘splodey heads’ all over the Catholic world. I try to imagine the dilemma of priests trying to explain to parishioners how abortion is mortal sin when the Pope honors a public abortion advocate and leader.
Last year, Ploumen founded a pro-abortion organization called She Decides, which offers funding and support for international NGOs that provide, facilitate or campaign for abortion.
In an email to the Catholic Herald, Ms. Ploumen said that she was “very honoured” by the pontifical medal, which was sent via the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs last month.
In an interview with Dutch radio, Ploumen said she views the honor as a sign of the pope’s progressivism, as well as acknowledgement for her work in supporting abortion rights.
The Vatican press office has confirmed that the honor was indeed awarded to Lilianne Ploumen, but insists that it was not meant to signal approval of her pro-abortion activities.
How does this honor not signal a backdoor doctrinal change for Roman Catholicism? Pope Francis semi-routinely ignores President Obama’s policy maxim: “Don’t do stupid sh*t.”
