The 2021 March for Life in Berlin, Germany. / Rudolf Gehrig/CNA Deutsch.

CNA Newsroom, Aug 11, 2022 / 06:58 am (CNA).

According to a new representative poll, 58% of German Catholics do not like “the fact that the Pope and the Church speak out against abortions.” 

The Catholic weekly newspaper Die Tagespost commissioned the survey from the opinion research institute INSA Consulere, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

“Among Lutheran respondents, the opinion picture is even clearer: 67% do not support the position of the pope and the church on the protection of life,” the Tagespost reported on Aug. 8. 

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a grave evil and is never acceptable at any stage of pregnancy. 

Pope Francis has repeatedly and strongly condemned abortion.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.” 

“Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.”

In July, a leading laywoman and co-president of the German “Synodal Way” demanded a “nationwide provision of abortion” across the European Union’s most populous country.

Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), acknowledged that abortion should not be considered a “regular medical service,” adding, however, that the committee advocated for “ethically responsible action on the part of all those involved.”

The Central Committee of German Catholics is the organizer of the controversial “Synodal Way,” together with the German Bishops’ Conference. As serving president of the lay committee, Stetter-Karp is also co-president of the German process.

In an open letter launched by the initiative “Maria 1.0,” several well-known German signatories criticize Stetter-Karp and call on the president of the German Bishops’ Conference to cut ties with her, reported CNA Deutsch on Aug. 11.

Germany currently permits abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with mandatory counseling at a state-approved center, as well as later abortions in certain circumstances.

The country of 83 million people recorded approximately 100,000 abortions in the pandemic year 2020.

Following the German federal government’s decision in March, the German bishops’ conference published a statement expressing cautious criticism of the government’s plans to lift the ban on abortion advertising.