This morning's General Audience began at 9:20am in Saint Peter's Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.
In his speech, the Pope continued the cycle of catecheses on the Commandments, adding his meditation on: Thou shalt not kill (Biblical passage: Wisdom 11:24-26).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today's catechesis is dedicated to the Fifth Word: do not kill. The fifth commandment: do not kill. We are already in the second part of the Decalogue, the part that is concerned with our relationships with others; and this commandment, with its concise and categoric formulation, stands like a wall in defence of values that are basic to human relationships. And what is a basic value in human relationships? The value of life*. This is the reason why the commandment says that we should not kill.
One could say that all the evil done in the world is summarized in this: contempt for life. Life is assaulted by wars, by organizations that exploit mankind - we read in the newspapers or we see many things on the news - from speculations about creation and the culture of waste, and from all the systems that subject human existence to calculations of opportunities, while a scandalous number of people lives in a state unworthy of humanity. This is what it means to despise life, that is, in some way, to kill.
A contradictory approach also allows for the suppression of human life in the womb in the name of safeguarding other rights. But how can an act that suppresses innocent and helpless life in its blossoming be therapeutic, civil, or even human? I ask you: is it right to take a human life in order to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem? One can not, it is not right to take out a human being, albeit small, in order to solve a problem. It's like renting a hitman to solve a problem.
Where does all this come from? Violence and the rejection of life: where do they come from? From fear. Indeed, welcoming the other is a challenge to individualism. We can think, for example, of a situation where it is discovered that a nascent life is a bearer of disability, even a serious one. Parents, in these dramatic cases, need real closeness, true solidarity, to face reality and to overcome understandable fears. Instead they often receive hasty advice to stop the pregnancy. This is another way of saying: stop the pregnancy or take one out directly.
A sick child is like any other needy person on the earth, such as an elderly person who needs assistance, or many poor people who struggle to carry on: he, the one who presents himself as a problem, is actually a gift from God that can pull me out of my own self-centeredness and make me grow in love. Vulnerable life shows us the way out, the way to save ourselves from an existence that is turned in on itself so that it can discover the joy of love. And here I would like to stop to thank, to thank many volunteers, to thank the strong Italian voluntary service which is the strongest I have ever known. Thank you.
And what leads a man to reject life? The idols of this world: money - it is better to get rid of this, because it will ultimately cost us -, power, success. These are incorrect parameters which are sometimes used to evaluate life. What is the only authentic measure of life? It is love, the love with which God loves us! The love with which God loves life: this is the measure. The love with which God loves every human life.
In fact, what is the positive meaning of the Word Do not kill? It is that God is a lover of life, as we have just heard from the scripture reading.
The secret of life is revealed to us by how the Son of God - who became man - treated us, even to the point of assuming rejection, weakness, poverty and pain upon the cross (cf Jn 13:1). In every sick child, in every weak elder, in every desperate migrant, in every fragile and threatened life, Christ is looking for us (cf Mt 25: 34-46), he is looking for our hearts, in order to reveal to us the joy of love.
It is worthwhile to accept every life because every man is worth the blood of Christ himself (cf 1 Pet 1: 18-19). We can not despise what God loved so much!
We must tell the men and women of the world: do not despise your life! The life of others, but also your own, because the commandment is also valid for us: Do not kill. To many young people it must be said: do not despise your existence! Stop rejecting God's work! You are a work of God! Do not underestimate yourself, do not despise yourself to the point of addictions that will ruin you and lead you to death!
No one measures life according to the deceptions of this world, but each one of us should accept himself and others in the name of the Father who created us. Our God is a lover of life: this is beautiful, God is a lover of life. And we are all so dear to him that he sent his Son for us. In fact, the Gospel says that God "so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16).
*cf Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith, Instruction entitled Domum vitae, 5, 1988 which says: Human life is sacred because, from the very beginning, it has involved the creating action of God and remains always in a special relationship with the Creator, his specific plan. Only God is the Lord of life from its beginning to its end: no one, in any circumstance, can claim for himself the right to directly destroy an innocent human being.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages, and His Holiness offered greetings to those who were in attendance. To English-speaking visitors, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Canada, Curaçao and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you all!
In his speech, the Pope continued the cycle of catecheses on the Commandments, adding his meditation on: Thou shalt not kill (Biblical passage: Wisdom 11:24-26).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today's catechesis is dedicated to the Fifth Word: do not kill. The fifth commandment: do not kill. We are already in the second part of the Decalogue, the part that is concerned with our relationships with others; and this commandment, with its concise and categoric formulation, stands like a wall in defence of values that are basic to human relationships. And what is a basic value in human relationships? The value of life*. This is the reason why the commandment says that we should not kill.
One could say that all the evil done in the world is summarized in this: contempt for life. Life is assaulted by wars, by organizations that exploit mankind - we read in the newspapers or we see many things on the news - from speculations about creation and the culture of waste, and from all the systems that subject human existence to calculations of opportunities, while a scandalous number of people lives in a state unworthy of humanity. This is what it means to despise life, that is, in some way, to kill.
A contradictory approach also allows for the suppression of human life in the womb in the name of safeguarding other rights. But how can an act that suppresses innocent and helpless life in its blossoming be therapeutic, civil, or even human? I ask you: is it right to take a human life in order to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem? One can not, it is not right to take out a human being, albeit small, in order to solve a problem. It's like renting a hitman to solve a problem.
Where does all this come from? Violence and the rejection of life: where do they come from? From fear. Indeed, welcoming the other is a challenge to individualism. We can think, for example, of a situation where it is discovered that a nascent life is a bearer of disability, even a serious one. Parents, in these dramatic cases, need real closeness, true solidarity, to face reality and to overcome understandable fears. Instead they often receive hasty advice to stop the pregnancy. This is another way of saying: stop the pregnancy or take one out directly.
A sick child is like any other needy person on the earth, such as an elderly person who needs assistance, or many poor people who struggle to carry on: he, the one who presents himself as a problem, is actually a gift from God that can pull me out of my own self-centeredness and make me grow in love. Vulnerable life shows us the way out, the way to save ourselves from an existence that is turned in on itself so that it can discover the joy of love. And here I would like to stop to thank, to thank many volunteers, to thank the strong Italian voluntary service which is the strongest I have ever known. Thank you.
And what leads a man to reject life? The idols of this world: money - it is better to get rid of this, because it will ultimately cost us -, power, success. These are incorrect parameters which are sometimes used to evaluate life. What is the only authentic measure of life? It is love, the love with which God loves us! The love with which God loves life: this is the measure. The love with which God loves every human life.
In fact, what is the positive meaning of the Word Do not kill? It is that God is a lover of life, as we have just heard from the scripture reading.
The secret of life is revealed to us by how the Son of God - who became man - treated us, even to the point of assuming rejection, weakness, poverty and pain upon the cross (cf Jn 13:1). In every sick child, in every weak elder, in every desperate migrant, in every fragile and threatened life, Christ is looking for us (cf Mt 25: 34-46), he is looking for our hearts, in order to reveal to us the joy of love.
It is worthwhile to accept every life because every man is worth the blood of Christ himself (cf 1 Pet 1: 18-19). We can not despise what God loved so much!
We must tell the men and women of the world: do not despise your life! The life of others, but also your own, because the commandment is also valid for us: Do not kill. To many young people it must be said: do not despise your existence! Stop rejecting God's work! You are a work of God! Do not underestimate yourself, do not despise yourself to the point of addictions that will ruin you and lead you to death!
No one measures life according to the deceptions of this world, but each one of us should accept himself and others in the name of the Father who created us. Our God is a lover of life: this is beautiful, God is a lover of life. And we are all so dear to him that he sent his Son for us. In fact, the Gospel says that God "so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16).
*cf Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith, Instruction entitled Domum vitae, 5, 1988 which says: Human life is sacred because, from the very beginning, it has involved the creating action of God and remains always in a special relationship with the Creator, his specific plan. Only God is the Lord of life from its beginning to its end: no one, in any circumstance, can claim for himself the right to directly destroy an innocent human being.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages, and His Holiness offered greetings to those who were in attendance. To English-speaking visitors, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Canada, Curaçao and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you all!
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