Female theologian targeted in vicious online campaign

The Catholic theologian Tina Beattie has defended her decision to sign a letter objecting to the potential criminalisation of Polish women who have abortions, as a petition calling for her to be suspended from an advisory position at aid agency Cafod reached almost 5,000 signatures.

Beattie, who is professor of Catholic studies at the University of Roehampton, helped to draft a letter to the Polish bishops’ ­conference expressing concern about proposed changes to Poland’s abortion laws that would criminalise mothers and their medical professionals.

It has since been signed by other Catholic academics including Ursula King, professor emerita of theology and religious studies at the University of Bristol; Gerard Loughlin, professor of theology at Durham University and Janet Soskice, professor of philosophical Theology at Cambridge University.

The letter called for dialogue and reflection about the possibility of criminalising abortion in Poland. While signatories said they upheld the sanctity of human life, they said women face agonising decisions about whether to continue with a pregnancy that is a result of rape, where it poses a risk to their own health and when the child is profoundly disabled or terminally ill. “[To impose this decision] through the force of law … runs counter to the Catholic tradition’s distinction between morality and legality,” they wrote.

Beattie said she “had difficulty” with the letter’s statement about the abortion of disabled children but said the letter was about Polish law, not personal views. Polish women and theologians had input into the draft. She said she had been the target of an online campaign since her involvement in drafting the letter was leaked by a Catholic women’s group member on Facebook. “I’ve been called a eugenicist, a Nazi; I got an email asking me if I was a witch. I’ve closed my Twitter account and stopped reading the blogs, but my kids still see this stuff. It’s so distressing.”

An international, socially conservative group based in Spain called Citizen Go has launched a petition calling on the aid agency Cafod to remove Beattie from her position on its Theological Reference Group. It has reached 4,775 signatures. In a statement, Cafod said that the opinion expressed in the letter does not represent or reflect its policies.

“Cafod appreciates the opportunity to dialogue with theologians on ethical issues arising from our work. We acknowledge that issues related to conscience, mercy and law are complex and have always been the subject of debate among Catholic moral theologians. Cafod then makes its decisions on policy and practice, always in accordance with church teaching,” it said.

Professor Beattie welcomed Cardinal Nichols’ statement in support of the Polish bishops, made at a Mass last week. “It was an excellent example of how to take a principled stand against abortion in line with the Church’s teaching,” she said.