In a message released from Gemelli hospital where he continues to battle a severe respiratory infection, Pope Francis lauded the Italian pro-life movement on its 50th anniversary. The message was read by the Pope’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
He noted their “approach of closeness and proximity to mothers in difficulty due to a difficult and unexpected pregnancy,” saying they “promote the culture of life in a broad sense” keeping “truth closely united to charity.”
The Holy Father lamented that in the 50 years of the movement’s existence, “while some ideological prejudices have diminished and sensitivity for the care of creation has grown among young people,” nevertheless, “the culture of rejection has spread.”
Therefore, there is still, and more than ever, a need for people of all ages to concretely devote themselves to the service of human life, especially when it is at its most fragile and vulnerable; because it is sacred, created by God for a great and beautiful destiny; and because a just society is not built by eliminating unwanted unborn children, the elderly who are no longer independent, or the incurably ill.
A civil society must free women “from the conditioning that drives them not to give birth to their own child,” he said.
Indeed, it is before everyone’s eyes how society today is structured on the categories of possessing, doing, producing, and appearing. Your commitment, in harmony with that of the entire Church, points to a different approach, one that places the dignity of the person at the center and prioritizes those who are weaker.
The unborn child represents, par excellence, every man and woman who does not count, who has no voice. To place oneself on his or her side means standing in solidarity with all the world’s discarded. And the gaze of the heart that recognizes him or her as one of us is the lever that moves this project.
Committed to women
Pope Francis urged the pro-lifers to continue in their commitment to women, and their “capacity for acceptance, generosity, and courage.”
“Women must be able to count on the support of the entire civil and ecclesial community,” he said.
The Pope concluded by entrusting them to “the intercession of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, spiritual president of the Movements for Life throughout the world.”
And today we celebrate...