Q. I noticed your discussion of the fate of aborted babies and believe that Pope John Paul had the answer in “The Gospel of Life” (Evangelium Vitae). In section 99, the Pope said to the mother who has undergone an abortion: “You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost, and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord.” In other words, that child is in Heaven. – S.K., Ohio

A. Like you, we immediately noticed that statement when we first read Evangelium Vitae in the Catholic News Service publication Origins in 1995, and thought that it suggested the conclusion you reached, although we were somewhat cautious about the phrase “in the Lord.” Did that mean the same thing as “with the Lord,” and therefore in Heaven? Or did it mean in the Lord’s favor, but without the Beatific Vision? We didn’t know.

But now the question has become moot because, according to Msgr. William Smith, the official Latin translation of the encyclical does not contain the sentence quoted by S.K., not in section 99 or anywhere else. The sentence appeared in the official English translation, as well as those in Spanish, French, and Italian, but not in the Latin text that is the Church’s official version of Evangelium Vitae. According to Msgr. Smith’s column in the July 2001 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review, the pertinent part of section 99, with an ellipsis for the deleted sentence, now reads:

“The Father of mercies is ready to give you His forgiveness and His peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation …. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone’s right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life.”