Pope Francis called Monday for a universal ban on the "despicable" practice of surrogacy, including the "commercialization" of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity. The pontiff also recalled rf's war against Ukraine and Israel's war on Hamas, UNN writes, citing AP.
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In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis complained that 2024 comes at a time in history when the world is "increasingly threatened, weakened and in some part lost.
Citing Russia's war against Ukraine, Israel's war on Hamas, the migration and climate crises, and the "immoral" production of nuclear and conventional weapons, Francis presented a long list of woes afflicting humanity and the growing violations of international humanitarian law that enable them.
But the pontiff also listed smaller problems that he said are a threat to peace and human dignity, including surrogacy. Francis said the life of the unborn child should be protected and not "suppressed or turned into an object of commerce.
"I find the practice of so-called surrogacy abhorrent, which is a gross violation of the dignity of the woman and the child based on the exploitation of situations with the material needs of the mother," he said.
He called on the international community to "universally ban this practice.
Francis has previously expressed the Catholic Church's opposition to what he called "womb for hire," and some European countries ban it, including Spain and Italy. At the same time, however, the Vatican's doctrinal office has made it clear that homosexual parents who resort to surrogacy can have their children baptized.
In his geopolitical review, Francis singled out Russia, naming it, noting that "the large-scale war that the Russian federation is waging against Ukraine" continued. "This marked an unusual break with Francis' usual tendency to absolve Moscow of direct public blame for the invasion while expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people," the publication noted.
Francis, as indicated, "was more balanced" in his lament over Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel "and all cases of terrorism and extremism." At the same time, he said the attack provoked a "decisive Israeli military response" that has left thousands dead and created a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.