Peace demands that we defend life, Pope Francis said. Addressing a host of international themes in his annual new year’s meeting with the Diplomatic Corps, the pontiff said that life is a good which today, is endangered “all too often even in the mother’s womb, through the promotion of an alleged right to abortion”.
Francis insisted that no one “can claim rights over the life of another human being, especially one who is powerless and thus completely defenseless.”
He appealed 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.”
Francis highlighted key challenges facing our world and affecting everyone, such as the war in Ukraine and the “wake of death and destruction” it leaves behind, with people dying not only from bombs but also from hunger and cold. He mentioned the political and social tensions in Brazil, but also in Peru and Haiti, the violence between Israelis and Palestinians, the death penalty in Iran, and the exclusion of women from education in Afghanistan.
He also spoke at length on tragedies in war-torn Syria and Yemen with populations dealing with deadly landmines; terrorism in Africa; the conflicts in the South Caucasus; the social, economic and political crisis in Lebanon; and the tragedy of migration that has turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard.
via Vatican News
