The Catholic Church considered abortion as a grave sin and condemned it right from the beginning. The Teaching of the Apostles (94 AD) condemned abortion: “…thou shalt not use magic: thou shalt not use drugs; thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide” (Didache II, 2).One of the earliest Fathers of the Church Tertullian (c.160 – c.220 AD) opposed abortion and infanticide in clear terms, “murder is once for all forbidden; so it is not lawful for us to destroy even the child in the womb,” while stating that “a future human being is a human being too.” Later Jerome (c.347-420 AD), John Chrysostom (347–407) and Augustine (354-430) condemned all sorts of hindrance to the procreative act, and Caesarius of Arles (470-542) condemned abortion and called it a crime. During the patristic time, there was no unanimity concerning the moment of ensoulment, though Tertullian believed that the soul entered the new being at conception (Tertullian, De anima, pp. 242-346). Though they were clear that human life begins at conception, there prevailed an understanding of successive animation. Thus, they spoke of unformed and formed embryo. However, anything against conception and any harm to the unformed (unensouled) fruit of the womb was a punishable crime of contraception; and an injury to the formed (ensouled) embryo led to a punishable homicide.

The Journey
Fr. Charles Davis belongs to the Diocese of Jammu-Srinagar: He left the government job and joined the diocese of Jammu Kashmir. The experience of Charles