Pope Francis on our Vulnerable Unborn ( from Priests for Life Newsletter March -April, 2014 )
http://www.priestsforlife.org/newsletters/v24n02marapr14.pdf#page=1
Brothers and Sisters
On the Feast of Christ the King, November 24, 2013, our
Holy Father Pope Francis issued his Apostolic Exhortation
“Evangelii Gaudium,” The Joy of the Gospel. Among
his key points, he stressed that religion which does not
make us responsive, on a human, effective level, to the
sufferings of others, is false and dangerous. The Gospel
is “joy” because, among other reasons, it empowers us to
serve, and the document is issued on the Feast of Christ
the King because, in his Kingdom, power is service.
It is in this context that the Pope raises the issue
of abortion, and reminds us that the context for
understanding this issue is “concern for the vulnerable.”
It is not abstract, and is not primarily about sexual
morality. Rather, it is about service and justice. His
words about our unborn neighbors are as follows:
213. Among the vulnerable for whom the Church
wishes to care with particular love and concern are
unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent
among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them
their human dignity and to do with them whatever one
pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing
anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a
way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives,
attempts are made to present her position as ideological,
obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn
life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other
human right. It involves the conviction that a human
being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation
and at every stage of development. Human beings
are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving
other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do
solid and lasting foundations for the defence of human
rights, which would always be subject to the passing
whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient
to recognize the inviolable value of each single human
life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint
of faith, every violation of the personal dignity of the
human being cries out in vengeance to God and
is an offence against the creator of the individual.
214. Precisely because this involves the internal
consistency of our message about the value of the human
person, the Church cannot be expected to change her
position on this question. I want to be completely honest
in this regard. This is not something subject to alleged
reforms or “modernizations”. It is not “progressive” to
try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.
On the other hand, it is also true that we have done
little to adequately accompany women in very difficult
situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution
to their profound anguish, especially when the life
developing within them is the result of rape or a situation
of extreme poverty. Who can remain unmoved before such
painful situations?
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium.