Fighting poverty

In a message to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Pope Francis said: “Poverty as deprivation of what is necessary – as [Léon] Bloy and [Charles] Péguy saw clearly, is a kind of hell, because it weakens human freedom and puts those who suffer from it in new forms of slavery (forced labour, prostitution, organ trafficking) in order to survive. These are criminal conditions that must be denounced and fought. Everyone, in particular governments, companies, civil society and religious communities – must do so.”

Dynamic love

Calling on religious leaders and scientists to take a common stand for the protection of the environment, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled for November 1-12 in Glasgow, Scotland, Pope Francis said:

“In the depths of every heart, love creates bonds and expands existence, for it draws people out of themselves and towards others. Love’s driving force is not set in motion once for all, but rather needs to be renewed daily. Love is the mirror of an intense spiritual life: a love that extends to all, transcending cultural, political and social boundaries; a love that is inclusive, concerned especially for the poor, who so often teach us how to overcome the barriers of selfishness and to break down the walls of our ego.”

Human dignity

Condemning the Chilean parliament’s approval of the decriminalisation of abortion up to the 14th week of gestation, the country’s bishops said: “The value of life and the dignity of the human person are an essential foundation of life in society.” They “deeply regret this decision and reaffirm the essential values that are at stake on this issue”. They quoted Pope Francis’s statement in the encyclical Evangelii Gaudium that “the defence of unborn life is intimately linked to the defence of all human rights”, and “the first of human rights is the right to life, which must be respected from conception to natural death”.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)