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Pope Francis to Filipinos: Protect life—from conception to natural death
Pope Francis on Friday night called on Filipinos to protect the institution of the family, warning them of threats to marriage and life—"from conception to natural death."
In his liturgy after hearing about poverty and related challenges that face common Filipino families, the leader of the Catholic Church also warned them of "materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life."
In his liturgy after hearing about poverty and related challenges that face common Filipino families, the leader of the Catholic Church also warned them of "materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life."
"Protect your families. See in them your country’s greatest treasure and nourish them always by prayer and the grace of the sacraments. Families will always have their trials, but may you never add to them!" Pope Francis said.
"Instead, be living examples of love, forgiveness and care. Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death," he added.
Pope Francis adverted to the gospel reading on how Saint Joseph protected Jesus and Mary when the newborn Lord was threatened by Herod in Bethlehem.
"Instead, be living examples of love, forgiveness and care. Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death," he added.
Pope Francis adverted to the gospel reading on how Saint Joseph protected Jesus and Mary when the newborn Lord was threatened by Herod in Bethlehem.
"The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life," Pope Francis said.
Family can be disfigured, destroyed
Family can be disfigured, destroyed
Despite strong opposition from the bishops, President Benigno Aquino III signed the reproductive health bill in December 2012. The law aims to provide improved public access to natural and artificial family planning options, better maternal care, and sex education to the youth.
A report also said that more Filipinos are using modern contraception today. The number rose by 209,000 in 2013.
There are also trends on governments allowing same-sex marriages.
“Like all God’s gifts, the family can also be disfigured and destroyed. It needs our support," Pope Francis said in the statement he read before Aquino in Malacañang on Friday.
"We know how difficult it is for our democracies today to preserve and defend such basic human values as respect for the inviolable dignity of each human person, respect for the rights of conscience and religious freedom, and respect for the inalienable right to life, beginning with that of the unborn and extending to that of the elderly and infirm,” he added.
Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical
There are also trends on governments allowing same-sex marriages.
“Like all God’s gifts, the family can also be disfigured and destroyed. It needs our support," Pope Francis said in the statement he read before Aquino in Malacañang on Friday.
"We know how difficult it is for our democracies today to preserve and defend such basic human values as respect for the inviolable dignity of each human person, respect for the rights of conscience and religious freedom, and respect for the inalienable right to life, beginning with that of the unborn and extending to that of the elderly and infirm,” he added.
Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical
The Pope, in his message, referenced Blessed Paul VI, who as Pope wrote the encyclical Humanae Vitae that defined the Catholic Church's continued rejection of most forms of artificial birth control.
"In the moment of the challenge of that growth of populations, he had the strength to defend openness to life. He knew the difficulties of families experienced, and that's why in encyclicals he expressed compassion for particular cases," Pope Francis said.
The Pope said Paul VI taught professors "to be particularly compassionate with particular cases."
"And he went further. He looked to the people's beyond, he saw the lack and the problem it could cause families in the future. Paul VI was courageous, he was a good pastor, and he warned his sheep about the wolves approaching, and from the heavens he blesses us today," the Pope said. —Trisha Macas/NB/JST, GMA News
The Pope said Paul VI taught professors "to be particularly compassionate with particular cases."
"And he went further. He looked to the people's beyond, he saw the lack and the problem it could cause families in the future. Paul VI was courageous, he was a good pastor, and he warned his sheep about the wolves approaching, and from the heavens he blesses us today," the Pope said. —Trisha Macas/NB/JST, GMA News
Tags: popefrancis, papalvisit
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