Pope Francis calls abortion “horrific”

VATICAN CITY
(Reuters) –
Pope Francis,
whom
conservatives
in the Roman
Catholic
Church have
accused of not
speaking out
forcefully
enough
against
abortion, on
Monday called the practice "horrific".
The pope made his toughest remarks to date on
abortion in his yearly address to diplomats
accredited to the Vatican, a speech known as his
"State of the World" address.
"It is horrific even to think that there are children,
victims of abortion, who will never see the light of
day," he said in a section of the speech about the
rights of children around the world.
Abortion, he said, was part of a "throwaway
culture" that had enveloped many parts of the
world.
"Unfortunately, what is thrown away is not only
food and dispensable objects, but often human
beings themselves, who are discarded as
unnecessary," he said.
Since his election in March, the pope, while
showing no signs of changing the Church's position
against abortion, has not spoken out against it as
sternly or as repeatedly as his predecessors, Pope
Benedict XVI and the late John Paul II.
Both of those popes often delivered sermons
against abortion, which the Church considers
murder.
Conservatives in the Church were alarmed when
Francis, in a landmark interview in September with
the Italian Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica, said
the Church must shake off an "obsession" with
teachings on abortion, contraception and
homosexuality.
His stance favoring mercy over condemnation has
disoriented conservative Catholics, notably in rich
countries such as the United States, where the
Catholic Church has become polarized on issues
such as abortion.
Last year, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence,
Rhode Island, spoke for many conservative
Catholics when he said he was disappointed that
the pope had not addressed "the evil of abortion"
more directly.
Conservative Catholic websites have criticized the
pope in recent months for what they called his
silence on abortion.
In the part of his speech about children, Francis
also deplored their use 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."

Sent From David Aniemeka