Remember that the catholic church is a spiritual organization that concerns itself with the wellbeing of the soul above all things. Those accusing it of not living in the real world should remember that there are millions of public and private concerns dedicated to the appeasement of our bodies. At least its stances are consistant!

neil bradley, liverpool, UK

I am from Ireland and was raised a Catholic, a religion I abandoned a long time ago because of its lack of compassion. I went to an all boy school and what the priests did to us during those years was terrible, some people I know will never heal. Back then I learned that the church does not live in the same world as the rest of society.
So regarding this latest development, I would like to say that I believe that this is another attempt by the church to undermine the rights of women. That this decision should be made by women and more so by the individual and not a male dominated church that has always treated women as second class citizens.
So the next time you look at your wives, your girlfriends, your mothers and your daughters or female friends, ask yourself do these people you love have a voice?

Crom, Madrid, Spain

This deeply troubling story shows what is at the core of the nonsensical nature of absolutist views. There may indeed be times when abortion is not morally justified, i.e. a woman having her tenth instead of using contraception but to take a stand for all abortion being wrong is criminally simple minded. It seems to me that absolutist thinking of this nature always gives rise to absurdities and, in this case, ultimately something more morally reprehensible. When are we going to wake up to the fact that the world and the situations we deal with every day are more complex that a simple rule based morality can account for?

Lee Chalmers, London,

I am in agreement with you, Andrew, though (as a nonconformist) I don't have the added difficulty of finding myself in conflict with my own church.

I am against abortion when pregnancy results from consensual sex (there are earlier and better preventative measures to take) - this is not a moral nor a religious persuasion but simply the result of having myself been born at 25 weeks.

I acknowledge - to a certain extent - the Catholic view that an abortion after rape punishes the potential (not yet extant) child for the actions of someone else BUT so, it is all right for the rape victim to be punished instead, is it?

As if they have not suffered enough already?

Heaven help us - for I don't think anyone else is going to.

Jane, Wincan,

What sort of christian church is the RC church? These women that were raped are not western middle class career women making a lifestyle choice. This is abuse. The Catholic stand on contraception in Aids devastated Africa causes untold suffering to parents & orphaned children. Amnesty is on the ground dealing with these disasters while the the Vatican spouts dogmatism. It must be a strange God that they are worshipping.
I think this is a RC policy to fight the influence of non-catholic secular charities. No wonder they are losing ground to Protestant evangelicals in the poorer nations.

Mike, Dubai, UAE

You know, sometimes my heart really sinks, and this is one of them.

I was raised a catholic, and now I'm middle aged, still kinda feel one but, well, also, bit stupid aren't they, a lot of the time, the church, no idea of the real world, even, incredibly, heartless. How to square this with compassion, love, tolerance, crossing the road to help your fellow human being.

I've been active in Amnesty for about 10 years now, and one of the main reasons was it seemed to me to be what I call, 'God's work'. By that, it stands up for the small against the big, helps so well the vulnerable, does not judge, but does the fine thing of viewing all humanity as equal. So it helps all, including the marginalised and hated, just like a certain Jesus did.

Also, the Church on gay people, how many violent deaths has that led to?

So what to do, opt out of Amnesty or Rome - given the latters apparent lack of heart & tolerance, I'll have to believe outside I guess, very sad world this.

Andrew, London,