Pope Francis asked the faithful to abandon abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life, AP News reported.
The pontiff held a New Year’s Day Mass dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, at St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday. He prayed that everyone would learn to care for “every child born of a woman” and protect “the precious gift of life: life in the womb, the lives of children, the lives of the suffering, the poor, the elderly, the lonely and the dying.”
I ask for a firm commitment to respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, so that each person may cherish his or her own life and all may look with hope to the future.
Francis has spoken out strongly against abortion in recent years. In the early months of his papacy in 2013, he also complained that the church had become obsessed with “small-minded rules” regarding sensitive issues like abortion.
Nowadays, the Pope regularly refers to abortion as “hiring a hitman to solve a problem.” The Vatican recently announced that it has begun the process of beatifying King Baudouin who passed away in 1993. The late King of Belgium abdicated for one day rather than approve a law legalising abortion.
The current season, which began with the Vatican’s big Holy Year, would be particularly challenging for Pope Francis, who suffered from recurrent respiratory issues. The quarter-century celebration of faith is expected to draw 32 million pilgrims to Rome during 2025.
