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Pope Francis greets Peter Lombardi, 12, of Columbus, Ohio, after the boy rode in the popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 28. Receiving a kiss from the pope was a wish come true for Peter, who has Down syndrome and has survived leukemia. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)Pope Francis greets Peter Lombardi, 12, of Columbus, Ohio, after the boy rode in the popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 28. Receiving a kiss from the pope was a wish come true for Peter, who has Down syndrome and has survived leukemia. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis denounced abortion on Saturday as the "white glove" equivalent of the Nazi-era eugenics program and urged families to accept the children that God gives them.
Francis spoke off-the-cuff to a meeting of an Italian family association, ditching his prepared remarks to speak from the heart about families and the trials they undergo. He lamented how some couples choose not to have any children, while others resort to pre-natal testing to see if their baby has any malformations or genetic problems.

"The first proposal in such a case is, 'Do we get rid of it?'" Francis said. "The murder of children. To have an easy life, they get rid of an innocent."

Francis recalled that as a child he was horrified to hear stories from his teacher about children "thrown from the mountain" if they were born with malformations.

"Today we do the same thing," he said.

"Last century, the whole world was scandalized by what the Nazis did to purify the race. Today, we do the same thing but with white gloves," Francis said.

The pope urged families to accept children "as God gives them to us."

Francis has repeated the strict anti-abortion stance of his predecessors and integrated it into his broader condemnation of what he calls today's "throw-away culture." He has frequently lamented how the sick, the poor, the elderly and the unborn are considered unworthy of protection and dignity by a society that prizes instead individual prowess.

He has also decried how women are often considered part of this "throw-away culture," sometimes forced to prostitute themselves.

"How many of you pray for these women who are thrown away, for these women who are used, for these girls who have to sell their own dignity to have a job?" Francis asked during his morning homily Friday.

Francis has dedicated much of his pontificate to preaching about families, marriage and the problems that families today encounter. He is expected to highlight these issues during his August trip to Ireland where he'll close out the Catholic Church's big family rally.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Henry George
5 years 3 months ago

Pope Francis has put his finger on the logical result of secularism.

"We will decide what is good and what is bad and what is efficient and
what is in-efficient".

Any nation that legalises abortion will or has legalised the eradication
of those thought not to be worthy of living anymore.

Abortion, eugenics of those with "faulty" genes,
the elderly, those who cannot find work, the criminal.

Yet so many Catholic are silent on abortion and eugenics
though they have and will lead to mass murder.

Tim O'Leary
5 years 3 months ago

Good for Pope Francis, to call it like it is. Planned Parenthood and their allies resent most being compared to the Nazi eugenicists, forgetting their founder Margaret Sanders endorsed this sort of thing. While death by Doctor began in earnest in the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, it has grown in acceptance with the loss of faith, as the Woman's march of last year and the Irish Referendum show. How ironic, given the majority of victims in the womb are female (see book by Mara Hvistendahl), and the perps are in white coats. It is pro-abortion men (self-identifying feminists) who are as or more culpable, with their eugenic ideologies, their support of pornography and sex trafficking, and their insatiable appetite for free sex without questions. This is the message the Holy Father should bring to Ireland in August.

Jaroslav Lunda
5 years 3 months ago

"Last century, the whole world was scandalized by what the Nazis did to purify the race. Today, we do the same thing but with white gloves."
Nice point. And Planned parenthood links both, national socialism and killing of unborn babies (back in days "colored", today "white").
On the other hand it comes too late, Irish referendum is gone.

Tim Donovan
5 years 3 months ago

Although I 'm not blessed with any children, I feel fortunate that I have three nieces and a nephew (now adults) who I helped care for when they were growing up. Aside from being active in the pro-life movement in various ways over the years, I believe that my vocation as a Special Education teacher (now retired) instructing children with severe brain damage, physical disabilities and/or behavior disorders was part of my pro-life commitment. Although Pope Francis may be criticized for his use of language, the fact is that Nazi Germany did kill numerous disabled people in concentration camps. It should be remembered, however, that some German doctors and nurses not only during the years of Hitler's rule but also in hospitals were killing disabled children and adults prior to the rise of Naziism.

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