Powerful pro life quotes from Pope Francis

By Tom Quiner

The March for Life is dominated by Catholics.

Yes, there a ton of our Protestant brothers and sisters marching and praying for life. There are non religious people who turn out in support of life, too.

God bless them all.

Photo by Lisa Bourne

But Catholic social justice teaching always starts with a fundamental, God-given right to life. That’s why you’ll see bishops, priests, deacons, and busload after busload of students from Catholic high schools throughout the nation marching for life today.

The event features packed Masses, as you see above in the photo by LifeSite News reporter, Lisa Bourne.

The Roe v Wade decision stripped away the right to life, and the carnage has been gruesome.

Pope Francis has made some provocative quotes, often taken out of context, that have fueled speculation that he views the abortion issue as a secondary issue. Let us lay this speculation to rest with this series of quotes from the Holy See:

1. “It is God who gives life. Let us respect and love human life, especially vulnerable life in a mother’s womb.”

– on Twitter, May 15, 2013

2. “All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”

– Message to Catholics taking part in annual Day for Life in Britain and Ireland July 28, 2013

3. “Let’s say “Yes” to life and “No” to death.”

– Message to Catholics taking part in March for Life in France Jan. 19, 2014

4. “Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person… even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the ‘culture of waste’ suggests!”

– Speech to Catholic healthcare professionals and gynecologists Sept. 20, 2013

5. “All too often, as we know from experience, people do not choose life, they do not accept the ‘Gospel of Life’ but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others.

…As a result, the living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death.”

– from homily at Mass for ‘Evangelium Vitae Day’ June 16, 2013 

6. “Unfortunately, what is thrown away is not only food and dispensable objects, but often human beings themselves, who are discarded as ‘unnecessary.’ For example, it is frightful even to think there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day; children being used as soldiers, abused and killed in armed conflicts; and children being bought and sold in that terrible form of modern slavery which is human trafficking, which is a crime against humanity.”

– Speech to diplomats Jan. 13, 2014

7.  Human life must always be defended from its beginning in the womb and must be recognised as a gift of God that guarantees the future of humanity.

– Pope Francis, Letter to Brazilian families for National Family Week, August 6, 2013

8. “I join the March for Life in Washington with my prayers. May God help us respect all life, especially the most vulnerable”

– on Twitter, January 22, 2014

9. “The victims of this [throwaway] culture are precisely the weakest and most fragile human beings – the unborn, the poorest, the sick and elderly, the seriously handicapped, etc. – who are in danger of being ‘thrown away’, expelled from a system that must be efficient at all costs.

…It is necessary to raise awareness and form the lay faithful, in whatever state, especially those engaged in the field of politics, so that they may think in accord with the Gospel and the social doctrine of the church and act consistently by dialoguing and collaborating with those who, in sincerity and intellectual honesty, share – if not the faith – at least a similar vision of mankind and society and its ethical consequences.

– Speech to a delegation from the Dignitatis Humanae Institute Dec. 7, 2013

9. “We are called to reach out to those who find themselves in the existential peripheries of our societies and to show particular solidarity with the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters: the poor, the disabled, the unborn and the sick, migrants and refugees, the elderly and the young who lack employment.”

– Message to the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches dated Oct. 4, 2013 

10. “The right to life is the first human right. Abortion is killing someone that cannot defend him or herself.”

– Cardinal Bergoglio with Rabbi Abraham Skorka in book ‘On Heaven and Earth’

11.  “We should commit ourselves to ‘eucharistic coherence,’ that is, we should be conscious that people cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act or speak against the commandments, in particular when abortions, euthanasia, and other serious crimes against life and family are facilitated. This responsibility applies particularly to legislators, governors, and health professionals.”

– Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis

12.  “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you.”

– Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis