The Vatican has hosted an international summit on the rights of children, titled “Love Them and Protect Them”, where Pope Francis spoke out against the “pathological individualism” of abortion.
International leaders at the summit included Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, former Vice President Al Gore, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach. Holocaust survivor Edith Bruck also attended the event on 3-4 February.
Speaking in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Pope Francis condemned the “throwaway culture of waste and profit, in which everything is bought and sold without respect or care for life, especially when that life is small and defenceless”.
“In the name of this throwaway mentality, in which the human being becomes all-powerful, unborn life is sacrificed through the murderous practice of abortion,” the Pope continued.
“Abortion suppresses the life of children and cuts off the source of hope for the whole of society.”
Pope Francis has repeatedly condemned the “throwaway culture” of abortion and assisted suicide, and has likened abortionists to “hitmen”.
In his New Year message for 2025, the Pope called on people around the world to “respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death”.
45.1 million unborn babies were aborted in 2024, when abortion was once again the leading cause of death worldwide, killing more people than World War One.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “It was a power moment when Pope Francis condemned abortion in front of international figures, including Thomas Bach who, in 2024, lauded the Paris Olympics that celebrated abortion during its opening ceremony.
“As abortion advances across the world, it’s important that we all speak out about the greatest moral crime of our time in which many Western leaders are implicated. It’s also important to remember the child victims of abortion whose right to life was denied before they even had a name.
“Pope Francis calls out abortion for what it really is, a deadly ethic that discards unborn children, treating them as essentially worthless. This nasty ‘throwaway culture’ might have even greater consequences for society than we know, leading to a further cheapening of human life that ought to frighten us all.”
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