Pope Leo offers a prayer intention for each month, and I was excited when I saw that his intention for July is “for a respect for human life.” Like those of us who work so hard every day to teach these values, the pope seems to understand that we all have a duty to protect life.
The pontiff’s beautiful prayer intention is so crucial, especially today, but I wish that he would have specifically articulated that life begins at conception and that preborn babies deserve the same respect and protection as those already born. I wish that he would have been a little more explicit in his prayer, which is so widely heard, so that those who may be on the fence about pro-life values or who don’t understand or care about them might come to understand the beauty in every life—including the preborn. It’s a crucial distinction to make because not everyone understands the sanctity of life from the moment of conception, and many don’t even think about it, or when they do think about life, they think of people who have been born. But that leaves out a whole segment of our population—and one of the most vulnerable.
Teaching specific truths regarding Church doctrine is essential, especially when you’re a person of authority. And teaching these values repeatedly is important for those who fail to listen well or who fail to understand.
As Catholics, we know that the pope has made pro-life statements in the past, and we know that he believes in the sanctity of life from the moment of creation. Recently, he spoke out about abortion and said that “there can be no peace while humanity wages war against itself” and that “no policy can genuinely serve the people if it denies the unborn the gift of life, or if it neglects to support those in need.”
Indeed, a country that wages war on the tiniest among us will never understand the value of those who are born. But it’s a truth that must be repeatedly taught, as hardened hearts are difficult to chisel through.
In his short video, Pope Leo prays that we see that “each person is a sacred gift that reflects” God’s face “from the first instant of existence to the final breath of their journey on earth.”
While those of us in the pro-life field recognize that “the first instance of existence” means creation, conception, or the fertilization of the egg, many in secular society haven’t yet grasped this concept. That line in his prayer may have gone over their heads, been dismissed, or maybe it didn’t even register.
Because the pope doesn’t specifically mention the child in the womb, that segment of the population—so often forgotten and discarded by the secular world—remains hidden to many.
I believe that the pope missed the perfect opportunity to teach and to affirm the existence of a human being. If instead he would have said “each person is a sacred gift . . . from the first instance of existence when the sperm fertilizes the egg to the final breath of their journey on earth,” that would have made people stand up and take notice. It would have snapped heads to attention.
I believe that every time the pope talks about the sanctity of life, he could reach and change more hearts if he were to specifically state who it is we are trying to protect. Abstract concepts or phrases that only people familiar with Church teaching or pro-life values understand often fail to reach the people we need to reach—those who advocate for the slaughter of innocents, those who believe that abortion is a “woman’s choice,” and those who simply don’t care.
If we are to change minds and hearts, we must open the eyes of people who don’t see the preborn as human beings or as worthy of protection.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches the sanctity of life and says, “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person—among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”
It’s the responsibility of those in authority to also teach this truth. Repeatedly and fervently.
In his July prayer intention, Pope Leo asks for the “grace to recognize and protect the unique and unrepeatable value of every human being,” and he asks God to “give us a new heart always ready to choose life and generous hands that protect it through concrete actions.”
These concrete actions can and must include both prayer and education. Every person can pray for a return to a culture of life. Every person can pray for moms and babies. But we also have a responsibility to learn the science of a developing baby and then to teach it to our kids and to our friends and family. To do anything less means joining those who so gleefully advocate for preborn death.
The pope finishes his prayer saying, “May we proclaim in words and actions that every human life is worth the total gift of ourselves.” This total gift of ourselves includes our protection and our advocacy. This total gift of ourselves requires love. As Christ said in the Gospel of Matthew, “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
If we want to hear those seven glorious words “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” we will teach the truths of the faith every single day here on earth, and we will continue to teach them until those around us truly understand that all life is sacred—from the moment of fertilization until death.
This article first appeared in LifeSiteNews at lifesitenews.com/opinion/pope-leo-just-missed-an-opportunity-to-forcefully-defend-the-unborn.
Facebook Comments