So you have won another prize… - Yes, another one. I have received high recognition from the Pope… Is it because of what you are doing for the cause of abortion? - Well, that is not brought up, but it is interesting that what is mentioned is [what I do] about resources for society… But that is true for many other people… - Of course, and I believe the Vatican know that I founded ‘She decides’. But that did not stop them from giving me this recognition – it is a special honor… What kind of recognition is it? - It makes me a Commander in the Order of St Gregory. Well, congratulations! Is this not truly progressivist on the part of the pope? - Yes, that is so. And I am happy to have received it. Do you see it as a confirmation of what you have been doung for women and for abortion? - Yes, that too. In recent years, I have invested a lot in establishing contacts with the Vatican… You mean, lobbying work? - Yes, lobbying. You know that the Vatican, especially under the preceding popes, had a rigid attitude about the rights of girls and women… Absolutely! - Which will not change overnight – one must have no illusions abut this. But there are areas perhaps in which we can nonetheless cooperate, and this is what I have been seeking. For example, the Chruch is very much against the marriage of children, and this may seem strange to us [the Dutch], but in many countries the Church has a great influence, so that if a bishop says, “Dear people, it is a bad idea to arrange marriage for girls who are only 14 years old”, it will help [presumably, to counteract that attitude. But why on earth would she advocate for girls to be married off at 14?] Then there was a bishop in Uganda who spoke against homosexualism, and the Vatican told him: “Look, we do not approve this practice, but man is created as he is and we should accept him as he is”. And so you are pragmatic enough that if the pope or the Vatican can help in your mission… - Certainly. Even if they don’t approve of it? - Naturally. Let us not make a mistake. The Church has a very influential voice among the faithful, but it is also part of negotiations in the United Nations, so it makes a difference if they side with, say Saudi Arabia, and not with Holland on any issue – I prefer them to be on our side. Alongside Member of Parliament Ploumen? - Yes.
There isn’t a chance in the world that the current Vatican would grant such an honor to a politician who was given to making racist statements [or worse, anti-Islam statements!] That they overlooked her radical pro-abort record wasn’t a matter of diplomatic cynicism but rather the fact that the powers that be at the Vatican are not going to make an issue of abortion. Pope Francis has political irons in the fire that are much more important to him than the fact that a politician has spent her career championing the slaying of children in the womb. When it comes to pro-lifers, the Pope tosses us a soundbite every now and then, and then he does something like this to reassure his political allies on the left that he really does not mean it.