Pope Benedict: Catholic Church's "Principal" Policy Focus is Pro-Life View
Here's an excerpt:
Pope Benedict XVI told a delegation of politicians in Rome for a meeting of the European People's Party that the Catholic Church's main public policy thrust is the protection of human life from atrocities like abortion, euthanasia and human cloning. He said he hoped pro-life principles would become the bedrock of law throughout Europe.
"As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person," he said.
"[S]he is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable," the pope added, referring to the church's pro-life stance.
The pontiff called on the elected officials to defend human life "in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death."
Pro-life principles "are not truths of faith, even though they receive further light and confirmation from faith," the pontiff added. "[T]hey are inscribed in human nature itself and therefore they are common to all humanity."