THE HEAD of the Catholic Church in England, Cardinal Basil Hume, placed the abortion issue back into the political arena yesterday after describing it as "a great evil in our society".
With anti abortion candidates pledging to contest 50 seats in the general election, Cardinal Hume's comments were interpreted as an endorsement of their campaign.
Although a spokesman for the cardinal stressed he was not launching any kind of electoral campaign, he agreed the issue could become relevant in the election.
"The decision on who to vote for is a complex one, and bishops are not telling people who to vote for. But it mad be that candidates who are strongly pro choice will find that Catholics will not vote for them, even if they like their other policies. The Catholic Church has not given its blessing to any boycott of sitting MPs," Dr Hume added.
In a television interview with GMTV's Sunday Programme, Cardinal Hume said abortion was "unworthy of a civilised society" and the church would never change its stance on the issue. "We have to explore why people want their children aborted. There are some things which are clearly good. There are some things which are clearly evil," he added.
Mr Peter Garret, research director of the Pro Life Alliance, praised Cardinal Hume's comments, saying they would add weight to their electoral campaign.
"We will be able to stop people like Tony Blair fudging the issue and pretending they hold a quasi pro life position," he said.
Mr Blair was accused of hypocrisy on the issue by Mr Robert Spink, an anti abortion Tory backbencher.