In a world that is becoming more and more hostile to the unborn it is good to remind ourselves of words of encouragement. In an address to members of Italy’s pro-life movement just about two years ago, Pope Benedict XVI said:
‘Looking at the past three decades and considering the current situation, it is impossible not to recognize that in practice defending human life today has become more difficult because a mindset has developed, entrusted to the opinion of the individual, which has gradually debased its value. One result of this has been the decrease in respect for the human person, a value at the root of all civil coexistence, over and above the faith professed.’
The Catholic Church he said,
‘encourages the promotion of every initiative in support of women and families in order to create the favourable conditions in which to welcome life, and the protection of the family institution founded on the marriage between a man and a woman. Not only has permitting recourse to the termination of pregnancy not solved the problems that afflict many women and a fair number of families, but it has also made another wound in our society, unfortunately, already burdened by deep suffering. … [W]e cannot conceal from ourselves that various problems continue to gnaw at today’s society, preventing space from being given to the desire of so many young people to marry and to form a family, because of the unfavourable situation in which they live. … It is necessary to help the family with every legislative means to facilitate its formation and its task of education in the difficult social context of today.’
The Pope also praised the group for their
‘initiative with the Commission for Petitions of the European Parliament, in which you assert the fundamental values of the right to life from conception, of the family founded on the marriage of a man and a woman, of the right of every human being conceived to be born and brought up in a family by his parents, …’
He ended his address by urging the members of the group to persevere in their commitment of love and the defence of human life, and ‘in order that the smile of life may triumph on the lips of all children and their mothers, do not be afraid.’
