ROME (AP) – The French doctor who discovered the genetic basis of Down syndrome, but who dedicated his career to defending abortion as a result of prenatal diagnosis, took his first big step towards the possible holiness.
Pope Francis on Thursday approved the “heroic virtues” of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, who lived between 1926 and 1994 and was especially loved by St. John Paul II for his stance against abortion.
The papal recognition of Lejeune’s virtues means that he is considered “venerable” by the Catholic Church. The Vatican must now confirm a miracle attributed to his intercession for him to be beatified and a second for him to be declared a saint.
According to his official biography, Lejeune in 1958 discovered the existence of an additional chromosome in the 21st pair during a study of a child’s chromosomes. It was the first time that scientists found a link between an intellectual disability and a chromosomal abnormality; the disease is now known as trisomy 21.
“While the results of their research should have helped medicine move toward a cure, they are often used to identify children who carry these diseases as early as possible, usually with the goal of stopping the disease. ‘pregnancy,’ wrote the Jerome Lejeune Foundation in its biography.
“As soon as pro-abortion laws were drafted in Western countries, Lejeune began advocating for the protection of the unborn with Down syndrome: she gave hundreds of lectures and interviews around the world in defense of life,” he said. say the group.
John Paul in 1974 made Lejeune a member of the think tank of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican and later appointed him first president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Holy See’s main bioethics advisory committee. .
John Paul visited Lejeune ‘s tomb during the World Youth Day in Paris in 1997.
While John Paul made the church’s firm opposition to abortion a hallmark of his quarter-century papacy, Francis has also strongly denounced what he calls the current “throwing culture,” which he believes weak, disabled or sick are disposable. He has compared abortion to hiring a “murdered man” to address a problem.