At 11:45am this morning (5:45am EST), in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the members of the Directing Council of the Italian Movement for Life, on the occasion of the 41st National Day for Life, which will be celebrated in all Italian dioceses tomorrow - Sunday, 3 February 2019 and which has as its theme: There is life, there is a future.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to meet you today, and to thank you for your joyous welcome! I especially want to thank your President for the wonderful words that she has offered - what a strong tone! - in the name of the entire Movement and for the wishes they express, recalling your mission and service at the service of life and the importance of the Day which will be celebrated tomorrow throughout Italy.
Each year, the Day for Life, which was established 41 years ago through the initiative of the Italian Bishops, highlights the primary value of human life and the absolute duty to defend it, from its conception to its natural end. And I would like to underscore this, as a general premise. Taking care of life requires that it be done throughout our lives and until the end. And it also requires that attention be paid to the conditions of life: health, education, job opportunities, and so on; in short, everything that allows a person to live in a dignified way.
Therefore the defence of life is not accomplished in only one way or with a single gesture, but it is realized in a multiplicity of actions, focuses and initiatives; it does not concern only some people or certain professional fields; instead it involves every citizen and the complex interweaving of social relationships. Aware of this, the Movement for Life, present throughout the Italian territory through the Centres and Services which help life and the Houses of welcome, and through your many initiatives, you have striven for 43 years to be a leaven to spread a style and the practice of welcoming and respecting life throughout the mixture of society.
This should always be a jealous and firm guardian of life, because life is future, as the Bishops' message recalls. Only if you make room for it can you look ahead, and live it with confidence. This is why the defence of life has its fulcrum in welcoming those who have been born and those who are still in the womb, wrapped in the mother's bosom as in a loving embrace that unites them. I appreciated the theme chosen this year for the European competition proposed to schools: I take care of you. The model of motherhood. This invites us to look at conception and birth not as a mechanical or only physical fact, but in the perspective of the relationship and the communion that unites the woman and her child.
This year's Day for Life recalls a passage from the prophet Isaiah that moves us every time, recalling the marvellous work of God: Behold, I do a new thing (Is 43.19), says the Lord, leaving his heart always young and showing us his enthusiasm in generating, every time as at the beginning, something that was not there before, bringing forth an unexpected beauty. Do you not see it? adds God through the prophet's mouth, in order to shake us out of our torpor. How is it possible that you do not notice the miracle that takes place right under your gaze? And we, how can we consider it a work of our own, until we feel entitled to dispose of it at our leisure?
In any case, turning off life voluntarily in its blossoming is a betrayal of our vocation, as well as of the pact that links the generations, a pact that allows us to look forward with hope. Where there is life there is hope! But if life itself is violated in its rising, what remains is no longer the grateful and amazed reception of the gift, but a cold calculation of what we have and what we can dispose of. Then life also reduces itself to a consumer good, to be used and thrown away, for ourselves and for others. How dramatic is this vision, which unfortunately is widespread and rooted, even presented as a human right, and how much suffering it causes to the weakest of our brothers and sisters!
But we never resign ourselves; instead we continue to work, knowing our limits but also the power of God, who looks at his children every day with renewed amazement at the efforts we put forward to let goodness sprout. A particular sign of consolation comes from the presence among you of many young people. Thank you. Dear boys and girls, you are a resource for the Movement for Life, for the Church and for society, and it is beautiful that you dedicate time and energy for the protection of life and the support of the most defenceless. This makes you stronger and like a flywheel of renewal even for those who are older than you.
I want to thank your Movement for its attachment, always declared and implemented, to the Catholic faith and to the Church, which makes you explicit and courageous witnesses of the Lord Jesus. And at the same time, I appreciate the secularity with which you are present and work, secularity based on the truth of the good of life, which is a human and civil value and, as such, asks to be recognized by all people of good will, to any religion or creed to which they belong. In your cultural action you have testified frankly that those who are conceived are children of the whole society, and their killing in huge numbers, with the approval of the States, constitutes a serious problem that undermines the construction of justice, compromising the correct solution to every other human and social question.
In view of tomorrow's Day for Life, I take this opportunity to appeal to all politicians, so that regardless of everyone's beliefs, they set the foundation stone of the common good as the defence of the lives of those who are about to be born. and enter into society, to which they come to bring good news, future and hope. Do not let them be conditioned by a logic that aims at personal success or only immediate or partisan interests, but always look further into the future, so that they look at everyone with the eyes of their hearts.
We confidently ask our God to grant that the Day for Life we are about to celebrate may bring a breath of fresh air, allowing everyone to reflect and engage with generosity, starting with families and those exercising roles of responsibility at the service of life. To each of us is given the joy of bearing witness, in fraternal communion. I bless you with affection and I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to members of the
Italian Movement for Life
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to meet you today, and to thank you for your joyous welcome! I especially want to thank your President for the wonderful words that she has offered - what a strong tone! - in the name of the entire Movement and for the wishes they express, recalling your mission and service at the service of life and the importance of the Day which will be celebrated tomorrow throughout Italy.
Each year, the Day for Life, which was established 41 years ago through the initiative of the Italian Bishops, highlights the primary value of human life and the absolute duty to defend it, from its conception to its natural end. And I would like to underscore this, as a general premise. Taking care of life requires that it be done throughout our lives and until the end. And it also requires that attention be paid to the conditions of life: health, education, job opportunities, and so on; in short, everything that allows a person to live in a dignified way.
Therefore the defence of life is not accomplished in only one way or with a single gesture, but it is realized in a multiplicity of actions, focuses and initiatives; it does not concern only some people or certain professional fields; instead it involves every citizen and the complex interweaving of social relationships. Aware of this, the Movement for Life, present throughout the Italian territory through the Centres and Services which help life and the Houses of welcome, and through your many initiatives, you have striven for 43 years to be a leaven to spread a style and the practice of welcoming and respecting life throughout the mixture of society.
This should always be a jealous and firm guardian of life, because life is future, as the Bishops' message recalls. Only if you make room for it can you look ahead, and live it with confidence. This is why the defence of life has its fulcrum in welcoming those who have been born and those who are still in the womb, wrapped in the mother's bosom as in a loving embrace that unites them. I appreciated the theme chosen this year for the European competition proposed to schools: I take care of you. The model of motherhood. This invites us to look at conception and birth not as a mechanical or only physical fact, but in the perspective of the relationship and the communion that unites the woman and her child.
This year's Day for Life recalls a passage from the prophet Isaiah that moves us every time, recalling the marvellous work of God: Behold, I do a new thing (Is 43.19), says the Lord, leaving his heart always young and showing us his enthusiasm in generating, every time as at the beginning, something that was not there before, bringing forth an unexpected beauty. Do you not see it? adds God through the prophet's mouth, in order to shake us out of our torpor. How is it possible that you do not notice the miracle that takes place right under your gaze? And we, how can we consider it a work of our own, until we feel entitled to dispose of it at our leisure?
In any case, turning off life voluntarily in its blossoming is a betrayal of our vocation, as well as of the pact that links the generations, a pact that allows us to look forward with hope. Where there is life there is hope! But if life itself is violated in its rising, what remains is no longer the grateful and amazed reception of the gift, but a cold calculation of what we have and what we can dispose of. Then life also reduces itself to a consumer good, to be used and thrown away, for ourselves and for others. How dramatic is this vision, which unfortunately is widespread and rooted, even presented as a human right, and how much suffering it causes to the weakest of our brothers and sisters!
But we never resign ourselves; instead we continue to work, knowing our limits but also the power of God, who looks at his children every day with renewed amazement at the efforts we put forward to let goodness sprout. A particular sign of consolation comes from the presence among you of many young people. Thank you. Dear boys and girls, you are a resource for the Movement for Life, for the Church and for society, and it is beautiful that you dedicate time and energy for the protection of life and the support of the most defenceless. This makes you stronger and like a flywheel of renewal even for those who are older than you.
I want to thank your Movement for its attachment, always declared and implemented, to the Catholic faith and to the Church, which makes you explicit and courageous witnesses of the Lord Jesus. And at the same time, I appreciate the secularity with which you are present and work, secularity based on the truth of the good of life, which is a human and civil value and, as such, asks to be recognized by all people of good will, to any religion or creed to which they belong. In your cultural action you have testified frankly that those who are conceived are children of the whole society, and their killing in huge numbers, with the approval of the States, constitutes a serious problem that undermines the construction of justice, compromising the correct solution to every other human and social question.
In view of tomorrow's Day for Life, I take this opportunity to appeal to all politicians, so that regardless of everyone's beliefs, they set the foundation stone of the common good as the defence of the lives of those who are about to be born. and enter into society, to which they come to bring good news, future and hope. Do not let them be conditioned by a logic that aims at personal success or only immediate or partisan interests, but always look further into the future, so that they look at everyone with the eyes of their hearts.
We confidently ask our God to grant that the Day for Life we are about to celebrate may bring a breath of fresh air, allowing everyone to reflect and engage with generosity, starting with families and those exercising roles of responsibility at the service of life. To each of us is given the joy of bearing witness, in fraternal communion. I bless you with affection and I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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