Pope Francis has always been clear and emphatic in denouncing the evil of abortion. In these 11 public statements, the Holy Father makes clear his position in defense of life from conception.
1. The murder of innocent children, “such a great evil”
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On October 30, 2024, in an audience with members of the “Hope Project”, which accompanies men and women for the spiritual and emotional healing of the consequences of abortion, Pope Francis referred to the crime, like that of Herod, of Murdering innocent children is “an evil so great” that “it distances Jesus from us, prevents him from entering our home, from having a place in our inn.”
However, he specified, “we must not lose hope, evil does not have the last word, it is never definitive. Like the angel in Saint Joseph’s dream, God announces to us that, after this desert, the Lord will return to take possession of his house.”
He also thanked the members of that work for their work and encouraged them to trust in “the firm hand of Saint Joseph so that these sisters of ours can find Jesus in desolation.”
2. “In abortion a human life is killed”
Upon returning from his apostolic trip to Belgium, in September 2024, the Holy Father assured that “a woman has the right to life: to her life, to the life of her children. Let us not forget to say this: an abortion is murder.”
“Science tells you that in the month of conception all the organs are already there… You kill a human being. And the doctors who lend themselves to this are – allow me the word – hitmen. “They are hitmen.” This, he specified, “cannot be discussed” because “a human life is killed. And women have the right to protect life.”
3. The “culture of death” leads to abortion
Meeting with members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on Thursday, April 11, 2024, Pope Francis warned of a current “trend that leads to considering one’s existence as a burden for oneself and for loved ones.”
This mentality, he added, leads to transforming “the culture of throwaway into a culture of death,” which in turn causes a loss of respect and care for the poor, people with disabilities, unborn babies and the elderly.
“The unborn with disabilities are aborted, and the elderly in their final stages are given the ‘sweet death’, euthanasia, a disguised euthanasia, always, but euthanasia after all,” he denounced.
4. Pope Francis: Abortion is murder
On September 15, 2021, on the return flight to Rome that the Pope took from Bratislava, after completing his Apostolic Visit in Slovakia, a journalist from the Jesuit magazine America asked him about women and their “right to choose” – euphemism. used to refer to abortion – and the possibility of giving Communion to politicians who support pro-abortion laws.
The Holy Father responded the following: “Scientifically it is a human life, the books teach it. I ask: Is it fair to discard it to solve a problem? This is why the Church is so harsh in this argument, because if it accepts this it is as if it accepted daily homicide.”
5. Pope Francis: Abortion is not a solution for the mother
On September 25, 2020, Pope Francis said at a meeting of the UN General Assembly (United Nations), that “unfortunately, countries and international institutions are also promoting abortion as one of the so-called ‘essential services’ in the humanitarian response” to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19”.
“It is sad to see how simple and convenient it has become, for some, to deny the existence of life as a solution to problems that can and should be solved for both the mother and the unborn child,” he added.
6. Pope Francis: Abortion is like hiring a hitman
On October 10, 2018, during his weekly General Audience catechesis, Pope Francis compared abortion with “hiring a hitman.”
“But how can an act that suppresses innocent and defenseless life in its flowering be therapeutic, civilized, or simply humane? I ask you: Is it fair to “get out of the way” of a human life to solve a problem? Is it fair to hire a hitman to solve a problem? It is not possible, it is not fair to ‘remove’ a human being, even a small one, to solve a problem. “It’s like hiring a hitman to solve a problem,” he said.
7. Pope Francis: Abortion of disabled people is like what the Nazis did
On June 16, 2018, during his speech to a delegation of the Forum of Family Associations, Pope Francis said that abortion of sick or disabled children is like Nazi eugenics, “but with white gloves.”
“I have heard it said that it is fashionable – or at least it is common – in the first months of pregnancy to do certain tests, to see if the child is not well, or has some problem… The first proposal in that case is: ‘ Shall we throw him out?’ The murder of children. And to have a peaceful life, an innocent person is expelled,” he said.
“In the last century, everyone was scandalized by what the Nazis did to protect the purity of the race. Today we do the same, but with white gloves,” he added.
8. Pope Francis: Abortion goes against the Hippocratic Oath
On February 18, 2016, on his trip from Mexico back to Rome, a journalist asked the Pope if, given the Zika virus scare in Latin America, the Church could consider abortion a “lesser evil” for pregnant women.
He responded that abortion is “an absolute evil” and is against the Hippocratic oath of doctors.
“Abortion is not a ‘lesser evil.’ It’s a crime. It is casting out one to save another. It’s what the mafia does. It is a crime, it is an absolute evil,” said the Holy Father.
“Abortion is not a theological problem: it is a human problem, it is a medical problem. A person is murdered to save another – in the best of cases – or to live comfortably. It goes against the Hippocratic oath that doctors must take. “It is an evil in itself,” he added.
9. Pope Francis: The care of creation is incompatible with the justification of abortion
On June 18, 2015, in Pope Francis’ historic environmental encyclical, “Laudato Si’” (Praise be), the Pope said that respect for creation and human dignity are united.
“Since everything is related, the defense of nature is not compatible with the justification of abortion either,” he said.
“An educational path to welcome the weak beings around us, who are sometimes annoying or inconvenient, does not seem feasible if a human embryo is not protected, even if its arrival causes inconvenience and difficulties,” he added.
10. “Declaration without words”: Pope prays for abortion victims in cemetery
On August 16, 2014, during his trip to South Korea, Pope Francis prayed at a cemetery dedicated to baby victims of abortion.
Amid the crowd of journalists, the Pope stopped to silently pray for the unborn, a gesture he used to communicate the gospel of life.
In 2018, Pope Francis also visited a cemetery for unborn children located on the outskirts of Rome to pray for All Souls’ Day.
11. Pope Francis: Every aborted child has the face of Christ
On September 20, 2013, the Pope dio a speech to gynecologists and obstetricians participating in a conference organized by the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.
He reminded them that “they are called to care for human life in its initial phase” and asked them to remember that, “in all its phases and at any age,” human life is “always sacred.”
“Each unborn child, but unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord, who even before being born, and then newly born, experienced the rejection of the world,” he stressed.
Central Editorial
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