ROME (AP) – The French doctor who discovered the genetic basis of Down syndrome, but spent his career defending abortion as a result of prenatal diagnosis, took his first big step towards possible sanctity.
Pope Francis approved on Thursday the “heroic virtues” of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, who lived from 1926-1994 and was particularly esteemed by St. John Paul II for his anti-abortion stance.
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 extra 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 anomaly; the condition is now known as trisomy 21.
“Although the results of their research should have helped medicine move towards a cure, they are often used to identify children with these diseases as early as possible, usually with the aim of terminating pregnancy,” wrote the Jerome Foundation Lejeune in his biography.
“As soon as pro-abortion laws were drafted in Western countries, Lejeune began to advocate for the protection of unborn children with Down syndrome: he gave hundreds of conferences and interviews around the world in defense of life,” said the group.
In 1974, John Paul II made Lejeune a member of the think tank of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican and later named him the first president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the main bioethics advisory committee of the Holy See.
John Paul visited Lejeune’s grave during World Youth Day in Paris in 1997.
Although John Paul made the Church’s firm opposition to abortion a hallmark of his quarter-century papacy, Francis also strongly denounced what he calls today’s “disposal culture”, which considers the weak, disabled or sick to be disposable . He compared abortion to hiring a “gunman” to take care of a problem.