Vatican official says Amnesty International 'betrayed its mission'

Vatican official says Amnesty International 'betrayed its mission'

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- With its new stance supporting the legalization of abortion around the world, Amnesty International 'has betrayed its mission,' said Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in an e-mail interview with the National Catholic Register. The Register, based in North Haven, also quoted Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan, an iconic figure in pacifist and human rights circles, repudiating the new Amnesty position. 'One cannot support an organization financially or even individually that is contravening something very serious in our ethic,' the priest said. Cardinal Martino said, 'I believe that, if in fact Amnesty International persists in this course of action, individuals and Catholic organizations must withdraw their support because, in deciding to promote abortion rights, AI has betrayed its mission.' Amnesty International, a widely respected human rights organization, had been officially neutral on abortion until this April, when its Executive Committee adopted a new position calling for the decriminalization of abortion around the world.