Vatican Media
‘Abortion and Euthanasia Are Extremely Grave Evils Which Contradict Spirit of Life,’ Condemns Pope Francis
In Letter to Pontifical Academy for Life for 25th Anniversary, Appeals for Promoting and Protecting Human Life at Every Stage of its Development
Abortion and euthanasia are extremely grave evils that contradict the Spirit of Life.
Pope Francis condemned these realities, saying this in a letter to the Pontifical Academy for Life to mark its 25th Anniversary, as it was founded 11 February 1994. The Pope’s letter was signed Jan. 6, 2019, and presented today in the Holy See Press Office, by President of the Academy, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.
Presenting along with the Academy President, was Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro, chancellor of the same Pontifical Academy; Professor Fr. Paolo Benanti, T.O.R., lecturer in Moral Theology and Ethics of Technology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, academician of the Pontifical Academy for Life; Professor Laura Palazzani, Full Professor in Biolaw and Philosophy of Law at Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta of Rome’s LUMSA), academician of the Pontifical Academy for Life; and director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti.
The Academy, the presenters informed, is having its upcoming General Assembly next month, Feb. 25-27, 2019, in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall, on the theme: “Robo Ethics. Humans, machines and health.”
In the letter, the Pope made an appeal to protect and promote human life, at all its stages, and condemned all attempts to challenge it.
It also reflected on its history, with its being founded by Pope Saint John Paul II, at the prompting of Dr. LeJeune, its history with its four presidents preceding Archbishop Paglia, as well as its future.
In this mission, we are encouraged by signs that God is at work in our time. These signs need to be acknowledged and not overshadowed by certain negative factors.
“Along these lines, Saint John Paul II pointed to the many efforts to welcome and defend human life, the growing opposition to war and to the death penalty, and a greater concern for the quality of life and ecology.”
The Polish Saint, as Pope—Francis reminded–indicated as a sign of hope the development of bioethics as “reflection and dialogue – between believers and nonbelievers, as well as between believers of different religions – on ethical problems, even the most fundamental ones, that affect the life of man.”
The Pope reminded that the scientific community of the Pontifical Academy for Life has demonstrated, over the past 25 years, its ability to enter into this dialogue and to offer its own competent and respected contribution.
“A sign of this is its constant effort to promote and protect human life at every stage of its development, its condemnation of abortion and euthanasia as extremely grave evils that contradict the Spirit of life and plunge us into the anti-culture of death.”
These efforts, the Supreme Pontiff stressed, “must certainly continue, with an eye to emerging issues and challenges that can serve as an opportunity for us to grow in the faith, to understand it more deeply and to communicate it more effectively to the people of our time.”
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