Pope Francis called on people around the world to reject abortion and assisted suicide in his New Year message at the Vatican.
At New Year’s Day Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Pope Francis called on all people to “respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death”.
The Pope asked for a “firm commitment” to defend “the precious gift of life, life in the womb, the lives of children, the lives of the suffering, the poor, the elderly, the lonely and the dying”.
2024 saw the release of horrific death tolls from abortion and assisted suicide. This included a record-breaking number of abortions in the UK, now up to a quarter of a million unborn lives lost in England and Wales (as of 2022).
There were also over 15,000 deaths from assisted suicide in Canada in 2023, as reported last month.
The news from Canada came after MPs voted to approve Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill at its second reading. MPs will scrutinise the draft law in the new year, which could still see it rejected.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “As we enter 2025, now is the time to recommit ourselves to respect and protect human life, whether that life is an unborn child, or an elderly or disabled adult threatened by assisted suicide.
“So many lives are at risk across the world. In the battle for life, we can expect victories and defeats, but the only true defeat is not fighting at all and losing hope.
“Though the challenges we face in the world might at times seem overwhelming, it’s important that we keep perspective, knowing that life is a gift. We must all aspire to live our pro-life values as well as advocating them.
“While life starts at conception, hope begins with the knowledge that life is a good thing, which should be celebrated. Let 2025 be the year when people of all identities, faiths and opinions see life for what it really is.”
