Pope Francis on Monday reaffirmed the right to life "from conception in the womb until its natural end" during a gathering at Vatican's Benediction Hall with the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
Addressing the ambassadors, the Pope emphasized the importance of international agreements to "foster mutual trust and enable the Church to cooperate more effectively in the spiritual and social well-being" of their respective countries.
He raised that the pandemic showed the "face of a world that is seriously ill" not only because of the virus but also in matters of the natural environment, "economic and political processes," and "human relationships." Of this illnesses, he pointed out the lack of regard of human life in all its phases.
"The pandemic forced us to confront two unavoidable dimensions of human existence: sickness and death. In doing so, it reminded us of the value of life, of every individual human life and its dignity, at every moment of its earthly pilgrimage, from conception in the womb until its natural end. It is painful, however, to note that under the pretext of guaranteeing presumed subjective rights, a growing number of legal systems in our world seem to be moving away from their inalienable duty to protect human life at every one of its phases," he said.
The Pope also said that the pandemic reminded of the right "of each human being to dignified care" and then renewed his appeal for this in stressing that "it is indispensible that political and government leaders work above all to ensure universal access to basic healthcare" including with the "equitable distribution of the vaccines" for the benefit of "humanity as a whole."
In addition, the Pope also reinforced the important role of marriage and family as the "foundation of every civil society" and the "right to freedom of religion" as a "primary and fundamental human right," which he said must be "respected, protected and defended by civil authorities, like the right to bodily and physical health. For that matter, sound care of the body can never ignore care of the soul."
The Pope ended his address to the ambassadors by inviting them to "fraternity" as a means to "cure" the pandemic before blessing and thanking them for their presence.
"2021 is a time that must not be wasted. And it will not be wasted if we can work together with generosity and commitment. In this regard, I am convinced that fraternity is the true cure for the pandemic and the many evils that have affected us. Along with vaccines, fraternity and hope are, as it were, the medicine we need in today's world," he said.
Breitbart reported that Pope Francis "lamented the exploitation" of the pandemic as a means to push "reproductive rights" and cited the move of the United States Catholic Bishops Conference against President Joseph Biden, Jr. who signed anti-life executive orders in the first 1100 days of office.
"It is grievous that one of President Biden's first official acts actively promotes the destruction of human lives in developing nations," the U.S. Bishops said in a statement released late January alongside Biden's revocation of the Mexico City Policy.
"This Executive Order is antithetical to reason, violates human dignity, and is incompatible with Catholic teaching. We and our brother bishops strongly oppose this action," the bishops added.
