ROME — As the New Year commenced, Pope Francis made a passionate call for believers to oppose abortion, emphasizing a “steadfast commitment” to uphold and value life from the moment of conception until natural death.
The 88-year-old pontiff celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, which was dedicated to Mary, the mother of Christ.
In his sermon, he urged everyone to nurture “every child born of a woman” and to safeguard “the valuable gift of life,” stressing the importance of all lives, including those of the unborn, children, as well as the suffering, impoverished, elderly, lonely, and dying.
“I call for a strong commitment to honor the dignity of human life from conception until the end, so each individual can value their existence and all may look forward to the future with hope,” he stated, reinforcing the Church’s longstanding opposition to abortion and euthanasia.
In recent years, the Argentine Jesuit has become more outspoken regarding abortion, a topic he initially addressed with less fervor at the beginning of his papacy. Shortly after taking office in 2013, he noted that the Church had become overly fixated on trivial rules related to contentious matters such as abortion.
Now, he often describes the act of obtaining an abortion as akin to “hiring a hitman to resolve an issue.”
Recently, he stirred controversy in Belgium when he labeled its abortion legislation as “homicidal” and expressed his intention to honor the late King Baudouin, who abdicated for a single day rather than endorse a law that legalized the procedure. The Vatican has since confirmed that the process for the king’s beatification is underway; he passed away in 1993.
This morning Mass concluded a series of significant events in Francis’ bustling Christmas agenda. The pope, who battles ongoing respiratory issues, faced additional challenges this year as the Vatican gears up for the significant Holy Year celebration, expected to attract 32 million pilgrims to Rome in 2025.
Addressing a gathering of pilgrims in the sunlit St. Peter’s Square, Francis reflected on the central theme of the Jubilee, which emphasizes the importance of forgiving debts. He reiterated his call for leaders of affluent nations to forgive or alleviate the debts of poorer countries.
The pontiff specifically encouraged Christian leaders to set an example by spearheading initiatives for debt forgiveness.