Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has shown a firm stance on issues such as abortion and “rental belly”, alternating between the defense of life and pastoral reception, generating heated debates inside and outside the Catholic Church.
In the year he became Pope in 2013, Francis criticized what he called the church’s “obsession” with gays, abortion and contraception.
In an interview with the Jesuit CivilTà Cattolica magazine, on August 19 of that year, the Pontiff stated that the Church needs to find a balance between the preservation of the rules and the exercise of mercy.
According to the magazine, the Pope said the church “closed itself in small things, in tats” and should not be so eager to condemn others.
“Otherwise, even the moral building of the church must fall like a castle of letters,” Francisco told the publication.
The words, considered progressive, were received with enthusiasm by liberal Catholics, but generated discontent in the most conservative wing of the Vatican.
In January 2014, Francisco made a statement that was considered a nod to conservatives, who often criticized him for not condemning abortion as hard as previous popes.
“It’s horrible even to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who never will see daylight,” Francisco told a Vatican diplomats annual.
Despite the firm conviction to abortion, Francisco brought pastoral and welcoming approach. In November 2016, the Pontiff granted all priests the possibility of acquitting repentant faithful who performed the practice.
“There is no sin that divine mercy cannot reach and remedy when you find a sorry heart that seeks to reconcile [com Deus]”Francis wrote in a document known as the“ Apostolic Letter ”after the closing of the so -called“ Sacred Year of Mercy ”of the Church.
The decision was considered a significant step towards making the Catholic Church more inclusive.
On January 28, 2019, during an interview on the flight back from Panama, Francis said: “In the confessional I understood the drama of abortion.”
He added, “Women who have this anguish I say: Your son is in heaven, talk to him, sing to him that lullaby that no you couldn’t sing.”
In May 2019, the Pope said it was against prenatal diagnosis, made to identify any problems in the fetus. He reiterated that human life is inviolable.
The statements occurred when he received participants at the “Yes to Life! Arrestei Cura della Vita Nella Fragilit” conference (yes to life! Take care of the precious gift of life in fragility ”in Portuguese).
According to Francisco, the culture of waste imposes the idea that fragile children are incompatible with life, “condemned to death.”
The Pope asked to avoid “voluntary abortion and the abandonment of many children with serious pathologies at birth.”
There are “pharmacological, surgical and extraordinary assistance interventions,” explained Francisco, “fetal therapies” and “perinatal hospices” () who get surprising results, supporting families.
Francisco and the legalization of abortion in Argentina
In 2021, Argentina, a country of origin of Francisco, legalized voluntary abortion up to 14 weeks of gestation, after the Senate approved the law in December 2020.
Prior to approval, the Pope responded to a letter from a group of Argentine women who fight the right to abortion.
In the text, of November 22, 2020, Francisco reiterates the “importance of protecting life against the legalization of abortion in Argentina,” according to the Vatican News portal.
The letter signed by Francis “” thanks from the heart “for the effort of the group contrary to abortion and expressed admiration” for their work and their testimony “, and also encourages them to” move on. “
In sections released by Vatican News, the Pope says Argentina “prides himself on having women like that.”
Finally, the text of the Pontiff also stated that “the problem of abortion is not mainly a matter of religion, but of human ethics, even before any religious confession.”
In July 2022, Pope Francis commented on the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to overthrow the constitutional right to abortion in the country.
In an interview with Reuters, he said respecting the Court’s verdict, because he did not understand if he was right or wrong from a legal point of view.
The Pontiff added, however, saying that it is necessary to look at the question from the scientific point of view: “Science today and any book of embryology, the one studied by medical students, tells us that 30 days after conception there is DNA and the arrangement of the organs,” he said.
Francis also added that “the moral question is if it is right to take a human life to solve a problem. In fact, is it right to hire a killer to solve a problem?”
On September 29, 2024, Francisco emphasized the position in relation to the theme. At a press conference on the return of a trip to Belgium, the pontiff stated that doctors who have an abortion are “paid killers.”
“Women have the right to life, their lives and the lives of their children. However, abortion is murder, if it kills a human being and the doctors who do it are, allow me the word, Sicarias. And one cannot discuss about it,” said Pope Francis.
Francisco and the visit to the abortion -favorable activist
In November 2024, Francisco went to the House of Italian Politics Emma Bonino, a famous activist in Italy for the successful campaign in the 1970s to legalize abortion in the country.
There are no details about the conversation between the two.
Pope Francis and Emma Bonino have always thought different about abortion, but have the same point of view of peace and the welcome of immigrants.
The two met on several occasions. The first meeting was on November 4, 2015, when the former Foreign Minister attended Wednesday’s general hearing at Sala Paulo VI.
At the time, Bonino presented initiatives in favor of refugee children of the “La Fabbrica della Pace” Foundation (The Peace Factory, in Portuguese). In the same year, the Pope called the policy he suffered from lung cancer to ask about his health conditions.
On November 8, 2016, the Pope received Bonino in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace. The Vatican press room reported at the time that “the conversation focused mainly on the matters of migratory flows, the welcome of migrants and their integration.”
Precisely because of his work in favor of migrants, Francisco had praised the parliamentarian during an informal meeting at Casa Santa Marta with the director of Corriere Della Sera Luciano Fontana, also in 2016.
Francisco said at the time that Emma Bonino “offered the best service to Italy for knowing Africa.”
Strict stance against “rental belly”
Throughout the pontificate, Pope Francis has made hard positions regarding the practice known as the “rent of rent”, when a woman accepts to generate a child who will be raised by someone else or couple.
In January 2024, the Pontiff requested the global prohibition of the rental belly, calling the practice of “deplorable” and “serious violation”.
“I consider it deplorable to practice the so -called rent for rent, which represents a serious violation of the dignity of women and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of material needs of the mother,” Francisco said during a 45 -minute speech to Vatican -accredited diplomats.
Positioning has rekindled tensions with progressive sectors, especially between LGBTQia+groups, for which practice is an alternative in the constitution of families.
This content was originally published in abortion and rental belly: Francisco’s stance along the pontificate on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
