Pope Presses Pro-Life Message as Italy Abortion Debate Heats Up
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 5, 2005
The Vatican (LifeNews.com) — As the abortion debate heats up in Italy with lawmakers debating whether or not to pay women to avoid abortions and whether the dangerous abortion drug RU 486 should be allowed, Pope Benedict XVI urged respect for human life in his Sunday remarks.
"Truly, children are the greatest wealth and most appreciated good of the family," the Pope told a conference of presidents of the Episcopal commissions in Latin America for Family and life.
"That is why it is necessary to help all persons to become aware of the intrinsic evil of the crime of abortion that, in attempting against a human life in its beginning, is also an aggression against society itself," the pontiff explained.
The Church reminds "politicians and lawmakers, as servants of the social good," of their duty "to defend the fundamental right to life, fruit of the love of God," he added.
According to a Zenit report, Pope Benedict XVI said that when this is forgotten, "the elimination of the embryo or its arbitrary use" is facilitated "in the interest of the progress of science," which without ethics "becomes a threat to the human being himself, being reduced to an object or a mere instrument."
"When these levels are reached," he added, "society itself is offended and its foundations are shaken with all sorts of risks," the Pope said.
In addition, the Pope restated the Catholic Church’s opposition to the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug which he said was involved in "facilitating the elimination of the embryo."
The Pope noted that "all human life is deserving of respect and must be protected from its conception all the way to its natural end."
He also pressed for respect for the disabled saying they should be included "in society, in the work force but also in the Christian community."
