Let us pray for the respect and protection of human life in all its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.
Pope Leo’s Prayer Intention this month is echoed in his recent Encyclical on responding to AI. Both arise out of a deep respect for humanity. At their heart is his conviction that each human person is precious in God’s eyes and is precious. The centre of Christian faith is that God loved the world and human beings so much that he joins us in Jesus who accepts an unjust death at human hands to save us. The belief that each human being is precious and may not be used as a means to other ends also underpins beneath the legal framework of the United Nations and international agreements.
Pope Leo’s intention spells out what respect for human life entails. It requires us to respect each person regardless of age, wealth, abilities, intelligence, family faith or nationality. It asserts that their life is not for us to take, nor is our life for ourselves to take. For Christians, this respect flows from our conviction that God loves us personally. Love underpins the respect that we have for one another.
If each human life is precious, a healthy society must ensure that it is valued and protected. This demands especial care during pregnancy and in the years after birth. People also need care when they are suffering, have lost friends and grow frail. We are our brothers’ keepers and have a responsibility to bind our sisters’ wounds. Love lies at the heart of protection and ideally greets us at birth and accompanies us in death. Seen from this perspective we are lacking in respect if we were to take the life of an embryonic human being in the womb because it comes inconveniently or is the wrong gender. To take persons’ lives because they have dementia would be equally lacking in respect.
Protection can take many forms. We normally see it as provided by laws that penalise abortion or assisted death. Regulation is important, but it does not meet the main reasons for terminating pregnancies in the world. These are poverty and health. Many women have no way of supporting a baby when she is born. Family support, maternal health and a just distribution of wealth in society are necessary for protecting life.
Underlying the protection and respect for life is a lively conviction that life is a gift. This is the core of the Christian approach to life and that of many other religions and philosophies of life. We treasure and preserve gifts that we feel are precious. We do not throw them out or resell them. Our conviction that life is precious is more than a matter of words. It flows out of our joy at belonging to this beautiful world that God has given us.
The Pope’s appeal for respect for life asks for love and respect in our relationships. In a world where people belong to many religions and none, many people will not see life as a gift. Others will believe that that it is legitimate in certain circumstances to end life. Pope Francis insists that in our society we must commend respect for life. We shall join a wider conversation about human living and should enter it respectfully. Respect for persons with whom we disagree is also part of respect for life.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ writes for Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Social Services.
