When does God infuse a soul in the individual human life?

Dear Anonymous

The best response is published by Catholics United for the Faith ((http://www.cuf.org/faithfacts/details_view.asp?ffID=1)

Here is an excerpt:

The Catholic Church has always taught that abortion is a grave sin and has always prohibited Catholics from cooperating in or procuring an abortion. This has been the clear and constant doctrine of the Catholic Church, as even the ancient Didache, a first-century document that conveys the teaching of the early Church, affirms: “You shall not procure abortion, nor destroy a new-born child”[1] (cf. Acts. 2:42, Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2270-75). What became clearer over time, because of advances in biology, was the issue of ensoulment, i.e., when the soul is infused into the unborn.[2] In addition, the action of Pope Pius IX in 1869 was one of changeable discipline, not a change in doctrine. In this case, the Pope merely removed the distinction between the “unensouled” and “ensouled” fetus, making the canonical punishment the same for abortion at every stage because the soul is infused at conception (Catechism, no. 366).[3] While the Church does not change her doctrine, she can modify the penalties for violating that doctrine as she deems appropriate.

Judie Brown

COPYRIGHT 2013

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