By Dave Andrusko
In his address on Monday to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis spoke up unequivocally on behalf of unborn children and their mothers.
Writing for Vatican News, Salvatore Cernuzio quoted from the Pontiff’s remarks:
Peace also demands that we defend life, a good today endangered “all too often even in the mother’s womb, through the promotion of an alleged right to abortion,” says the Pope. “No one, however, can claim rights over the life of another human being, especially one who is powerless and thus completely defenseless.” His appeal is to the “consciences of men and women of good will, particularly those having political responsibilities, to strive to safeguard the rights of those who are weakest and to combat the throwaway culture that also, tragically, affects the sick, the disabled and the elderly.“
Cernuzio wrote that “Basically, the Pope observes, there is a ‘fear of life,’ the same one that causes fear in creating a family and bringing children into the world. Italy is an example of ‘a dangerous fall in the birthrate.’”
Right to Lifers would also celebrate the Pope’s call for religious freedom/freedom of conscience. The Biden administration has no time for the rights of medical personnel who object to being compelled to participate in an abortion. Pope Francis said
“Religious freedom, which cannot be reduced simply to freedom of worship, is one of the minimum requisites for a dignified way of life. Governments have the duty to protect this right and to ensure that each person, in a way compatible with the common good, enjoys the opportunity to act in accordance with his or her own conscience, also in the public sphere and in the exercise of their profession.”
Pope Francis has also spoken out against euthanasia. Addressed a group of participants in the general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life in 2021,
The Holy Father also spoke about the elderly, who are regarded as ‘waste material’ a bit because they are of no use… But they are roots of wisdom, which this civilization discards.
He denounced what he described as the law of “hidden” euthanasia, which shortens the life of the elderly who are provided only half the medicines, arguing they are expensive. Catholic academics, universities and hospitals, the Pope said, cannot walk the road of “waste.”