ROME, September 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com)
– In a meeting with Catholic gynaecologists this morning Pope Francis
strongly condemned abortion as a manifestation of a “throwaway culture.”
"Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the
face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was
born, experienced the rejection of the world," the pope said.
The comments come one day after the release of an in-depth interview
in which the Pope had explained that despite criticism he has avoided
speaking about moral issues like abortion and gay “marriage” in his
papacy, instead focusing on preaching about the love of Christ.
“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and
the use of contraceptive methods,” Pope Francis had said in remarks that
were widely interpreted as a call for Church leaders to downplay the
Church’s moral teachings on controversial issues.
"I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for
that," the Pope had explained. "But when we speak about these issues, we
have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for
that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not
necessary to talk about these issues all the time."
In response to that interview the United State’s largest abortion
advocacy organization, NARAL Pro-Choice America, even posted an image
thanking the pope for his comments on their Facebook and Twiter pages.
But NARAL’s celebrations were cut short by today’s blunt remarks by the
Pope, in which he urged doctors to respect life "from the first instant
of conception."
Speaking to the International Federation of Catholic Medical
Associations, Pope Francis spoke of a paradox in medicine today. “On the
one hand we see progress in the field of medicine, thanks to the work
of scientists who passionately and unreservedly dedicate themselves to
the search for new cures,” he said. “On the other hand, however, we also
encounter the risk that doctors lose sight of their identity in the
service of life.”
“While new rights are attributed to or indeed almost presumed by the
individual, life is not always protected as the primary value and the
primordial right of every human being,” said the Pope. “The ultimate aim
of medicine remains the defence and promotion of life.”
The pope told the doctors, "Your being Catholic entails greater
responsibility: first of all to yourself, in the effort to be consistent
with the Christian vocation, and then to contemporary culture, to help
recognize the transcendent dimension in human life, the imprint of the
creative work of God, from the very first moment of conception. This is a
commitment to the new evangelization that often requires going against
the tide, paying a personal price. The Lord counts on you to spread the
'Gospel of life.'"
As he has in the past, Francis condemned a “throwaway culture” that
would eliminate the weak and vulnerable in society. “Our response to
this mentality is a 'yes' to life, decisive and without hesitation. 'The
first right of the human person is his life. He has other goods and
some are precious, but this one is fundamental – the condition for all
the others'”.
Concluding, the Pope said, “bear witness to and disseminate this
'culture of life' … remind all, through actions and words, that in all
its phases and at any age, life is always sacred and always of quality.
And not as a matter of faith, but of reason and science! There is no
human life more sacred than another, just as there exists no human life
qualitatively more meaningful than another”.
See the full text in Italian here.
