The Vatican castigated President Clinton on Saturday for his new abortion policies, saying his frequent calls for an American renewal have "embarked on the paths of death and violence against innocent beings."
Both the speed of the Vatican's response and its harsh language suggested that Pope John Paul II was signaling the onset of a public struggle with the Clinton administration on an issue that divides American Catholics as much as it inspires some of the church's strongest beliefs.The unsigned editorial in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper came only a day after Clinton repealed the ban on abortion counseling at federally financed clinics.
While the Vatican's response was no surprise, the tone of the editorial reflected a sense that the Catholic Church had suffered an important setback on abortion.