As you may be aware, as I wrote yesterday in this very spot, there has been much consternation in Catholic circles – hierarchy and faithful – about Pope Francis’ recent nomination of a pro-abortion member to the Pontifical Academy for Life. I have prepared a Special for the interview segment of “Vatican Insider,” on this nomination and related issues.

I look at how the academy has changed from its original makeup and focus under its founder, Pope St. John Paul, when it was re-tooled by Pope Francis, and how Francis also re-instituted his predecessor’s John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family to the point where it is unrecognizable for original members.

I ask: Why would a Pope appoint as an academician someone who is pro-abortion. Abortion is the taking of an innocent human life. The academy is FOR life. Now, people are asking: Is it truly the Pontifical Academy for Life?

The bottom line of my piece is: What are we to make of the remarkable dichotomy between the Church’s Magisterium and Pope Francis’ pronouncements on protecting and defending all life from conception to natural death and the appointment of people to Church institutes and academies who do not defend and protect that life?

So tune in this weekend for that analysis.