Pope Francis Tells Catholic Legislators: Laws Must Protect “the Defenseless” Like Unborn Children

International   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Aug 29, 2017   |   11:22AM   |   Washington, DC

Pope Francis charged an international group of Catholic politicians on Sunday to support laws that protect the “defenseless and the marginalized” in society, including unborn babies.

Vatican Radio reports the pontiff addressed a crowd of legislators Sunday during the International Catholic Legislators Network meeting in Rome. Catholic lawmakers from the United States and countries across the globe gathered to discuss concerns and share ideas about how to best serve their countries through their faith.

Pope Francis urged the politicians to base their decisions on the Catholic Church’s teachings, including the sanctity of life for all human beings from conception to natural death.

“As long as the contribution of the Church to the great questions of society in our time can be put into discussion, it is vital that your commitment be constantly pervaded by her moral and social teachings, in order to build a more humane and just society,” Pope Francis said.

“The laws that you promulgate and apply ought to build bridges between different political perspectives: even when they respond to precise ends ordered to the promotion of greater care for the defenseless and the marginalized, especially the many who are constrained to leave their countries; and when they are in order to favor a correct human and natural ecology,” he continued.

The Catholic Church and Pope Francis are strong advocates for human life all across the world, working daily against abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research and other life-destroying problems.

Earlier this month, the pope told a Catholic charity in Belgium that it must stop allowing euthanasia at its psychiatric hospitals. The Brothers of Charity, a religious order which runs 15 psychiatric hospitals in Belgium, recently announced plans to begin allowing patients to be euthanized, in contradiction to Catholic Church teachings. If the organization does not change its policy, the pope said its status as a Catholic charity could be revoked.

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In May, Pope Francis also drew attention to the destruction of unborn babies as embryos for research and other purposes.

“Some branches of research, in fact, utilize human embryos, inevitably causing their destruction,” the pope said. “But we know that no ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos.”

Then during the March for Life in Italy, the pope sent words of encouragement to pro-lifers and urged them to be persistent in working to protect life.

“The Church must never tire of being an advocate for life and must not neglect to proclaim that human life is to be protected unconditionally from the moment of conception until natural death,” the pope said in his message.