NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Writing in today's issue of L'Osservatore Romano, the Franciscan moral theologian Gino Concetti sharply criticized US President Bill Clinton for his veto of a bill that would have banned partial-birth abortions.

      The US Senate will soon vote on whether or not to override that presidential veto; the US House of Representatives has already approved an override.

      Father Concetti advanced the possibility-- not being actively considered in Washington-- that President Clinton could avoid the Senate showdown by withdrawing his veto.

      The article in L'Osservatore Romano speaks of partial-birth abortion in indignant tones. "This technique is homicide," Father Concetti writes. "And it is without precedent in the history of human cruelty." The theologian speaks of the "barbarity" and "abomination" involved in the technique. Conceding that relatively few abortions are performed by this technique, he added: "the gravity is not measured by the quantity."

      In 1996, the American bishops protested the President's veto of a similar bill, and their protest was published in the press bulletin of the Holy See-- an unusual step, indicating the Vatican's keen interest in the issue.

      The Vatican has not made any official comment on the current White House scandals. But the article in L'Osservatore Romano indicates that Rome will not allow the partial-birth abortion debate to pass unnoticed amid the turmoil now surrounding the American President.