At 11:30am today, in the Sala Clementina at the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience those who are participating in a Convention which was organized by the Association of Science and Life which was held yesterday at the Tv2000 Congress Centre on the Via Aurelia. The focus of the gathering was: What science for what life?
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the foundation of your Association, and I thank you for this encounter and for your commitment. I especially want to thank Madam President for the courteous words that she offered to me in your name.
The service you offer t human persons is important and encouraging. In fact, the protection of and the promotion of life represent a critical task, especially in a society marked by negative logic. For this reason, I see your Association in the hands which reach out toward other hands to sustain life.
This is a compelling challenge, in which you guide the attitudes of openness, attention and closeness to others in their concrete situations. This is very good. Hands that are close not only guarantee stability and equality, they also transmit human warmth.
In order to protect the person, you must place yourselves in the middle of two essential actions: encountering and supporting. The dynamism of this common motion progresses from the centre toward the periphery. At the centre, there is Christ, and from this reference point we can orient ourselves toward various conditions of human life.
The love of Christ motivates us (cf 2 Cor 5:14) to make ourselves servants of children and the elderly, of every man and every woman, for whom the primordial right to life should always be protected. The existence of the human person, to whom you dedicate your concern, is also your central principle; it is life in its unfathomable depth that begins and accompanies the whole scientific journey; it is the miracle of life that always undermines some form of scientific presumption, giving primacy to wonder and beauty. So it is that Christ, who is the light of man and of the world, illuminates the way for science is wisdom at the service of life. When this light is dimmed, when knowledge loses contact with life, it becomes sterile. For this reason, I invite you to maintain the sacredness of every human person, so that science can truly be at the service of humanity, and not man at the service of science.
Scientific reflection uses a magnifying glass to pause and to analyze certain details. Thanks to this capacity for analysis, we reaffirm the fact that a just society recognizes the primacy of the right to life from the moment of conception until natural death. I want, however, that we go further, that we think attentively about the time that unites the beginning with the end. Therefore, recognizing the inestimable value of human life, we should also reflect on the ways in which we use this gift. Above all, life is a gift. But this reality creates hope and a future if it is enlivened by fruitful ties and by familial and social relationships that open new perspectives.
The degree of a civilization's progress is measured by its capability to care for life, above all in its different phases of fragility, more than by the spread of technological instruments. When we speak of humanity, we should never forget all the attacks on the sanctity of human life. The scourge of abortion is an attack on life. It is also an attack on life to leave our brothers on boats in the Straight of Sicily. It is an attack on life if we allow our brothers to die on the job because they do not respect the minimum conditions of security. It is an attack on life if we allow people to die from malnutrition. Terrorism, war and violence are also attacks on life; but also euthanasia. To love life means always to care for others, to love them, to cultivate and to respect their transcendental dignity.
Dear friends, I encourage you to re-launch a renewed culture of life, capable of building networks of trust and reciprocity and knowing how to offer horizons of peace, of mercy and of communion. Do not be afraid to undertake a fruitful dialogue with everyone in the world of science, even with those who, while they may not be professing believers, remain open to the mystery of human life.
May the Lord bless you and may Our Lady take care of you. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
to the Association of Science and Life
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the foundation of your Association, and I thank you for this encounter and for your commitment. I especially want to thank Madam President for the courteous words that she offered to me in your name.
The service you offer t human persons is important and encouraging. In fact, the protection of and the promotion of life represent a critical task, especially in a society marked by negative logic. For this reason, I see your Association in the hands which reach out toward other hands to sustain life.
This is a compelling challenge, in which you guide the attitudes of openness, attention and closeness to others in their concrete situations. This is very good. Hands that are close not only guarantee stability and equality, they also transmit human warmth.
In order to protect the person, you must place yourselves in the middle of two essential actions: encountering and supporting. The dynamism of this common motion progresses from the centre toward the periphery. At the centre, there is Christ, and from this reference point we can orient ourselves toward various conditions of human life.
The love of Christ motivates us (cf 2 Cor 5:14) to make ourselves servants of children and the elderly, of every man and every woman, for whom the primordial right to life should always be protected. The existence of the human person, to whom you dedicate your concern, is also your central principle; it is life in its unfathomable depth that begins and accompanies the whole scientific journey; it is the miracle of life that always undermines some form of scientific presumption, giving primacy to wonder and beauty. So it is that Christ, who is the light of man and of the world, illuminates the way for science is wisdom at the service of life. When this light is dimmed, when knowledge loses contact with life, it becomes sterile. For this reason, I invite you to maintain the sacredness of every human person, so that science can truly be at the service of humanity, and not man at the service of science.
Scientific reflection uses a magnifying glass to pause and to analyze certain details. Thanks to this capacity for analysis, we reaffirm the fact that a just society recognizes the primacy of the right to life from the moment of conception until natural death. I want, however, that we go further, that we think attentively about the time that unites the beginning with the end. Therefore, recognizing the inestimable value of human life, we should also reflect on the ways in which we use this gift. Above all, life is a gift. But this reality creates hope and a future if it is enlivened by fruitful ties and by familial and social relationships that open new perspectives.
The degree of a civilization's progress is measured by its capability to care for life, above all in its different phases of fragility, more than by the spread of technological instruments. When we speak of humanity, we should never forget all the attacks on the sanctity of human life. The scourge of abortion is an attack on life. It is also an attack on life to leave our brothers on boats in the Straight of Sicily. It is an attack on life if we allow our brothers to die on the job because they do not respect the minimum conditions of security. It is an attack on life if we allow people to die from malnutrition. Terrorism, war and violence are also attacks on life; but also euthanasia. To love life means always to care for others, to love them, to cultivate and to respect their transcendental dignity.
Dear friends, I encourage you to re-launch a renewed culture of life, capable of building networks of trust and reciprocity and knowing how to offer horizons of peace, of mercy and of communion. Do not be afraid to undertake a fruitful dialogue with everyone in the world of science, even with those who, while they may not be professing believers, remain open to the mystery of human life.
May the Lord bless you and may Our Lady take care of you. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment