Pope Francis sent his support to the March for Life, which took place in Washington, DC, on Friday, reported Vatican Radio. The annual event draws hundreds of thousands of people to the U.S. capital to call for protecting the unborn, ending euthanasia, and to promote other pro-life issues.
Sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis applauds the «many American citizens speaking out on behalf of the most defenseless of our brothers and sisters» and trusts it will «contribute to a mobilization of conscience in defense of the right to life and effective measures to ensure its adequate legal protection.”
Below is the Vatican Radio-provided text of Pope Francis’ telegram.
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His Holiness Pope Francis sends warm greetings and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the many thousands of young people from throughout America gathered in the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Arlington for the annual March for Life. His Holiness is profoundly grateful for this impressive testimony to the sacredness of every human life. As he has made clear, “so great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right… can justify a decision to terminate that life” (Amoris Laetitia, 83). He trusts that this event, in which so many American citizens speak out on behalf of the most defenseless of our brothers and sisters, will contribute to a mobilization of conscience in defense of the right to life and effective measures to ensure its adequate legal protection. To all present the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of strength and peace in the Lord.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State
[Courtesy of Vatican Radio]
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On the NET:
March for Life Website: http://marchforlife.org/mfl-2017/
