By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VIENNA, Austria — Before an audience of Austrian political leaders
and international diplomats, Pope Benedict XVI urged Europe not to jettison
its Christian values — especially when it comes to the rights of
the unborn and the dying.
The Pope made the remarks Sept. 7 in an ornate reception hall of Vienna’s
Hofburg Palace, which was packed with government officials, legislators,
ambassadors and representatives to U.N. and other agencies.
After being welcomed warmly by Austrian President Heinz Fischer, with
whom he had earlier held closed door talks, the Pope stood on a red-carpeted
dais and declared bluntly: “Europe cannot and must not deny her
Christian roots. These represent a dynamic component of our civilization
as we move forward into the third millennium.”
The Pope then quickly turned to two pro-life issues — abortion and
euthanasia — which he said were not merely Church concerns but represented
threats to the most basic human right, that of life itself.
Abortion, he said, “cannot be a human right — it is the very
opposite.” In stating this, he said he was “speaking out on
behalf of those unborn children who have no voice.”
The Pope appealed to political leaders “not to allow children to
be considered as a form of illness.” At the same time, he acknowledged
that the issue of abortion is sometimes complex.
“I do not close my eyes to the difficulties and conflicts which
many women are experiencing, and I realize that the credibility of what
we say also depends on what the Church herself is doing to help women
in trouble,” he said.
In Austria, abortion is available upon request during the first three
months of pregnancy, and later in pregnancy under more restricted circumstances.
The Catholic Church in Austria runs a network of homes for unwed mothers,
as well as for the dying.
The Pope said abortion was only one side of a larger problem for Europe,
where young couples should be encouraged to welcome children and build
families. Political and religious leaders need to help create once again
“a climate of joy and confidence in life, a climate in which children
are not seen as a burden but rather as a gift for all,” he said.
In his remarks on euthanasia, the Pope said he was deeply worried about
the current debate on what is termed “actively assisted death.”
The fear, he said, is that the gravely ill or elderly will be pressured
to request death or even administer it themselves.
The proper response to terminal illness is loving care and accompaniment,
especially palliative care, the Pope said. The hospice movement “has
done wonders” in this regard, he said.
But he said Europe needs urgent structural reforms of health-care systems
in order to provide “humane accompaniment on the journey toward
death,” including psychological and pastoral attention.
He said Europe has experienced a wide range of mistakes over the centuries,
including the “abuse of religion and reason for imperialistic purposes,”
the degradation caused by theoretical and practical materialism, and “the
degeneration of tolerance into an indifference with no reference to permanent
values.”
But Europe has also been marked by a capacity for self-criticism, he said,
and by a tradition of thought that sees a correspondence between faith,
truth and reason. At the root of this outlook is the Christian conviction
that “at the origin of everything is the creative reason of God,”
he said.
He closed by telling Austrian officials, “An Austria without a vibrant
Christian faith would no longer be Austria.”
The Pope’s speech received a standing ovation from those gathered
in the hall.
Copyright © 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
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