[BARCELONA] Pope Benedict's last visit today was to the Child Jesus (Nen Deu) project in Barcelona, a home for the disabled run by Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart founded by an Anadalusian nun beatified in 2007.
He greeted teenagers with learning difficulties, many with Down's Syndrome, and blessed the foundation stone of a new residence.
Children with Down's Syndrome are increasingly rare in Spain, where liberal abortion laws allow for the disabled to be terminated.
The visit was intended to underline his message this morning in the Sagrada Familia, where he defended the life of children as "sacred and inviolable from the moment of conception".
Speaking to the nuns and disabled teenagers, he said it was "indispensable that new technological developments in the field of medicine never be to the detriment of respect for human life and dignity, so that those who suffer physical illnesses or handicaps can always receive that love and attention required to make them feel valued as persons in their concrete needs".
He added that he always remembered in his prayers "those who are dedicated to the helping the suffering, and those who work tirelessly so that the handicapped can take their rightful place in society and not be marginalized because of their limitations".
