VATICAN CITY (CNS): Abortion is a crime of aggression not only against the unborn, but also against society, Pope Benedict XVI said.
“Children have the right to be born and to grow in the midst of a family founded on matrimony, where the parents are the first educators of children in the faith and where they can grow to full human and spiritual maturity,” the Pope said on December 3.
Meeting with the presidents of Latin American bishops’ committees for the family and for life, the Pope urged them to work together, sharing the programs and approaches that are most successful in their countries.
Legalised abortion has laid the groundwork for acceptance of the destruction of embryos in scientific research, he said.
The result is that human life is reduced “to an object or a mere instrument. When it reaches this level, society itself suffers and its foundations shake, with all classes at risk”, he said.
The key to addressing the situation, he said, is to strengthen and defend the traditional family, which is the first place in society where human life is welcomed and treasured.
The Pope said the entire Church must focus on efforts to “safeguard the fundamental values of marriage and the family, which are threatened by the current phenomenon of secularisation, which prevents the social conscience from discovering the identity and mission of the institution of the family”.
