Pope takes roses and chocolates to Italy’s abortion pioneer
Pope Francis has taken chocolates and a bouquet of roses to the Italian politician who successfully campaigned to legalise abortion in the 1970s. Emma Bonino, 76, who was recently discharged from hospital after treatment for heart and respiratory problems, received the Pontiff in her home where the pair were pictured chatting in their wheelchairs on The post Pope takes roses and chocolates to Italy’s abortion pioneer appeared first on Catholic Herald.
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Pope Francis has taken chocolates and a bouquet of roses to the Italian politician who successfully campaigned to legalise abortion in the 1970s.
Emma Bonino, 76, who was recently discharged from hospital after treatment for heart and respiratory problems, received the Pontiff in her home where the pair were pictured chatting in their wheelchairs on her terrace.
Afterwards, Ms Bonino said on X that Francis, 87, had praised her as an example of “freedom and resistance”.
She said: “This morning, with great surprise and full of emotion, His Holiness paid me a very welcome visit.
“The extraordinary human aspect of Pope Francis always emerges,” she continued. “He wanted to give me a wonderful bouquet of roses and chocolates.”
She added: “His telling me that I am ‘an example of freedom and resistance’ filled me with joy.”
The visit caused some surprise among media commentators in Italy because Ms Bonino not only campaigned successfully to legalise abortion but has also championed the decriminalisation of drug use and the liberalisation of divorce laws.
Pope Francis has frequently condemned abortion, however, often likening the killing of unborn children to assassinations by hired hitmen.
Ms Bonino made her name when she was elected to the Italian parliament as a member of the Radical Party in 1976 a year after she underwent an illegal abortion.
She was at the forefront of a campaign for the legalisation of abortion which was finally approved by a national referendum in 1981.
Her political career advanced in the ensuing decades and she served in public life even while she fought a successful eight-year battle against lung cancer.
Pope Francis has met Ms Bonino previously and has publicly praised her work on behalf of African migrants.
In 2016, the Pope told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that Ms Bonino as one of the country’s “forgotten greats” and comparable to such political figures as Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman.
(Getty Images)
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