A new Pope! Here are past statements by Pope Francis on various life issues

We gathered these comments from an email Randall Terry sent around and from a couple of other sources, including Pope Francis' new wikipedia entry. We have highlighted a document from the 2007 Latin America Bishops Conference well worth referencing in the future.

ON ABORTION

- In 2007 Cardinal Bergoglio stated, “We aren’t in agreement with the death penalty,” he said, “but in Argentina we have the death penalty. A child conceived by the rape of a mentally ill or retarded woman can be condemned to death.”

In 2007, following Pope Benedict’s meeting with Latin American bishops, the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America produced a joint statement, known as the Aparecida Document; it was presented by Cardinal Bergoglio himself.

APARECIDA DOCUMENT

Paragraph 436: We hope that legislators, heads of government, and health professionals, conscious of the dignity of human life and of the rootedness of the family in our peoples, will defend and protect it from the abominable crimes of abortion and euthanasia; that is their responsibility. Hence, in response to government laws and provisions that are unjust in the light of faith and reason, conscientious objection should be encouraged. We must adhere to “eucharistic coherence,” that is, be conscious that they cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged.  This responsibility weighs particularly over legislators, heads of government, and health professionals.

On the Need for the Church to Evangelize:

"We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a church becomes like this, it grows sick. It is true that going out on to the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But if the church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded church that goes out on to the streets and a sick, withdrawn church, I would definitely choose the first one."
 

On Unwed Mothers

 
"In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don't baptize the children of single mothers because they weren't conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today's hypocrites. Those who criticize the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it's baptized!"
 

On the Elderly and Infirm:

“Today,” he wrote, “elderly people are discarded when, in reality, they are the seat of wisdom of the society. The right to life means allowing people to live and not killing, allowing them to grow, to eat, to be educated, to be healed, and to be permitted to die with dignity.”  – Cardinal Bergoglio/Pope Francis

 

Comments

[Eileen Peterson]

Since his election and introduction to the world yesterday, Pope Francis’s many strong pro-life statements as bishop of Buenos Aires have been making the rounds, but I think this is the most powerful one I’ve seen yet, from 2005:

‎Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you. No child should be deprived of the right to be born, the right to be fed, the right to go to school.

What really touches me about this statement is that not only does Pope Francis speak to the right to life of the unborn child, he acknowledges that fighting for their right to life often involves tremendous sacrifice, from being lied about to being physically attacked.

But I have to confess, sometimes it seems church leaders, both Protestant and Catholic—despite unequivocal opposition to abortion—don’t really understand what it’s like fighting abortion “in the trenches.”

It’s extremely encouraging to know that the new pope understands and sympathizes with the challenges we face fighting to save unborn babies from abortion. He clearly recognizes that action speaks louder than words—and that with effective action comes persecution.

As bishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio was already under attack himself for his strong stance in defense of marriage, family and the right to life. The attacks will only increase now that he’s been elevated to the papacy.

[Elizabeth Rex]

Thank you so much for your research and Pope Francis' important quotes regarding the sanctity of life and the responsibility of legislators to respect and defend the vulnerable lives of innocent children before birth as well as the vulnerable elderly and the infirm.