Pro Life Quotes Pope Benedict XV1

"The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God Himself and thus inviolable."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Sydney, Australia, July 17, 2008 ~

"We cannot but recognize that, in practical terms, defending human life has become more difficult today, because a mentality has been created that progressively devalues human life and entrusts it to the judgement of individuals. A consequence deriving therefrom is lessened respect for the human person, a value that lies at the foundation of any form of civil coexistence, over and above the faith a person may profess."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, speaking to the Italian Movement for Life, May 12, 2008 ~

"Find the courage to proclaim Christ, ... and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in Him. These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world - including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother's womb.

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at Yankee Stadium, April 20, 2008 ~

...each according to his or her possibilities, profession and responsibilities, should feel in themselves an obligation to love and serve life, from its beginning to its natural end. It is, in fact, everyone's duty to welcome human life as a gift to be respected, protected and promoted, even more so when it is fragile and in need of attention and care, either before birth or when it is in its final stages."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Welcome Life, Before Birth and in its Final Stages, February 3, 2008 ~

"And it is today, in the present that we decide our future destiny. It is with our concrete everyday behavior in this life that we determine our eternal fate. At the end of our days on earth, at the moment of death, we will be evaluated on the basis of our likeness or otherwise to the Baby Who is about to be born in the poor grotto of Bethlehem, because He is the measure God has given humanity."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Christ is the Measure God has Given Humanity, December 9, 2007 ~

"The destruction of human embryos, whether to acquire stem cells or for any other purpose, contradicts the purported intent of researchers, legislators and public health officials to promote human welfare. The Church does not hesitate to approve and encourage somatic stem-cell research: not only because of the favorable results obtained through these alternative methods, but more importantly because they harmonize with the aforementioned intent by respecting the life of the human being at every stage of his or her existence."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, 10/11/07 ~

The Catholic community must offer support to those women who may find it difficult to accept a child, above all when they are isolated from their family and friends. Likewise, the community should be open to welcome back all who repent of having participated in the grave sin of abortion, and should guide them with pastoral charity to accept the grace of forgiveness, the need for penance, and the joy of entering once more into the new life of Christ."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Society Greatly Benefits from Educated Catholics, 11/19/07 ~

Pharmacists are "called to face the question of conscientious objection, which is a right that must be recognized for people exercising this profession, so as to enable them not to collaborate directly or indirectly in supplying products that have clearly immoral purposes such as, for example, abortion or euthanasia."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Therapeutic Experiments Must Respect Basic Ethical Norms, 10/29/07

"The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right -- it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Says Abortion is "Deep Wound," Opposite of a Human Right, Zenit, September 10, 2007 ~

Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia."

~ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles, n. 3, memo to Cardinal McCarrick, 2004 ~

Selfishness and fear are at the root of (pro-abortion) legislation...We in the Church have a great struggle to defend life...life is a gift not a threat."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0956318820070509?feedType=RSS&rpc=22May 9, 2007 ~

Worship pleasing to God can never be a purely private matter, without consequences for our relationships with others: it demands a public witness to our faith. Evidently, this is true for all the baptized, yet it is especially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or political position, must make decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms (230). These values are not negotiable. Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature (231). There is an objective connection here with the Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor 11:27-29). Bishops are bound to reaffirm constantly these values as part of their responsibility to the flock entrusted to them (232)." http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html Pope Benedict XVI ~Sacramentum Caritatis

The freedom to kill is not a true freedom, but a tyranny that reduces human beings to slavery."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, May 2005 ~

"God’s love does not distinguish between the infant in the mother’s womb or the child or the youth or the adult or the older person. In each one God sees His image and likeness. Human life is a manifestation of God and His glory."

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

"A violent attack is made on developing life by abortion (with the result that there are 30 million to 40 million a year worldwide), and to facilitate abortion millions have been invested to develop abortifacient pills (RU-486). Millions more have been budgeted for making contraception less harmful to women, with the result that most chemical contraceptives on sale now act primarily against implantation, i.e., as abortifacients, without women knowing it. Who will be able to calculate the number of victims from this massacre?"

~ From a talk given April 4, 1991 by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) to Cardinals invited to Rome by Pope John Paul II (see "Doctinal Documents on Threats to Life Proposed,", p. 756). Quote taken from an excerpt in Eternal Life, April 1992 ~

As far as abortion is concerned, it's part of the fifth, not the sixth, commandment: "Thou shalt not kill!" We have to presume this is obvious and always stress that the human person begins in the mother's womb and remains a human person until his or her last breath. The human person must always be respected as a human person.

~ Pope Benedict XVI, German Television Interview, 8/5/06 ~

"...at the origin of every human being there is not something haphazard or chance, but a loving plan of God."

~ Pope Benedict XVI in Valencia, Spain July 9, 2006 ~

When, as today, there is a market in human organs, when fetuses are produced to make spare organs available, or to make progress in research and preventive medicine, many regard the human content of these practices as implicit. But the contempt for man that underlies it, when man is used and abused, leads - like it or not - to a descent into hell."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, while still Cardinal Ratzinger