Pope Francis met with the Secretary General of the United Nations along with the heads of all the major UN agencies. In his message he directly and indirectly mentioned the thorny UN issue of abortion.
Francis told the gathered heads of UN agencies, “Today, in concrete terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of our brothers and sisters whose life is sacred and inviolable from conception to natural death must lead us to share with complete freedom the goods which God’s providence has placed in our hands…”
Though not surprising, this is nonetheless significant since the Pope’s diplomats are often at loggerheads with these same agency heads who push for a global right to abortion.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Raymond Flynn told Breitbart News:
With all the chaos in the world , war, torture, sexual kidnapping of innocent little girls in Africa, and genocide… what is the U.N. focused on? Trying to impose their radical political philosophy on the Catholic Church, who have done more to help end injustice than any country or organization in history.
Pope Francis is proving once again that a leader is most effective when being principled and humble, not arrogant and disrespectful – like Pope John Paul II before him, who stood up to tyranny and injustice and won the battle by winning the hearts and minds of people throughout the world.
Francis thanked the UN officials for their “great efforts being made to ensure world peace, respect for human dignity, the protection of persons, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, and harmonious economic and social development.”
Much of the language used at the Vatican and the UN is coded, and even here are subtle mentions of abortion. “Human dignity,” for instance, is language often used to promote the right to life of the unborn, as are references to the “most vulnerable.”
Along with his usual calls for striking at the “structural causes of poverty and hunger” along with protection for the environment and promotion of “dignified and productive labor for all,” Pope Francis also called for “protection of the family.”
“Specifically,” he said, “this involves challenging all forms of injustice and resisting the ‘economy of exclusion’, the ‘throwaway culture’ and the ‘culture of death.'”
Both his reference to the “throwaway culture” and the “culture of death” are direct if coded references to, among other things, the killing of unborn children.
Francis continued his more liberal economic campaign calling for “legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state,” though the inclusion of the word “legitimate” may give American libertarians at least a dollop of comfort.
Already the phrase has picked up vast media attention. However, according to frequent Church commentator Reverend Jonathan Morris, it is “bad reporting:”
Bad reporting by many. Pope Francis didn’t tell nations to “redistribute wealth”. He said “legitimate redistribution of economic benefits”
— Fr. Jonathan Morris (@fatherjonathan) May 9, 2014
“Redistribution of Wealth” is a Marxist concept. Francis is calling for economic opportunity for all, avoiding “exclusionary” policies.
— Fr. Jonathan Morris (@fatherjonathan) May 9, 2014
The meeting comes amidst a multi-year negotiation to replace the so-called Millennium Development Goals and on the 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, where Francis’s predecessor John Paul II led a global fight to stop an international right to abortion.
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