Carol Glatz: Pope Benedict has opened the season of Advent with a strong call to protect human life in all its stages. We’ll look at the Pope’s message today on the Vatican Report. I’m Carol Glatz.JT: And I’m John Thavis.  Advent is a time of joyful expectation of Christmas, when the Church celebrates the birth of Jesus. This year, Pope Benedict opened Advent with an unusual pro-life prayer vigil. It was part of a worldwide initiative to focus on threats to the unborn. At this event, the Pope said the Church’s teaching against abortion comes from its respect for the dignity of every human life. He warned that in today’s culture, the unborn are the most vulnerable to what he called "the selfishness of adults.”CG: The Pope spoke specifically about the human embryo. He said science has demonstrated that the embryo is more than a collection of biological material -- he said the embryo interacts autonomously with the mother, and shows amazing complexity and biological coordination as it develops. This is a new individual, he said, and it was interesting that he used the evidence of scientific research to back this up. And on a very human level, he reminded people that this is how we all began, as an embryo in the mother’s womb.JT: Critics of the church’s position on abortion often say that pro-life activists care more about the unborn than about the children who are alive and often suffering in the world. The Pope’s talk at the Vatican vigil made it clear that the pro-life cause is something much broader than anti-abortion efforts. He said children today are often subject to abandonment, hunger, poverty, disease, abuse, violence and exploitation. He called this a "sad panorama of injustices", and said everyone has a responsibility to build a network of services that support human life before and after birth.CG: Right, the Pope sees the defense of human life as a continuum that begins at conception and ends at natural death. And this is exactly what he told a group of Philippine bishops this week. Abortion is illegal in the Philippines, but officials say several hundred thousand illegal abortions are carried out each year, and there is a movement to make the practice legal. It was interesting that in his remarks to the bishops, the Pope also made a point of congratulating them on their successful efforts to abolish the death penalty in the Philippines -- again, a reminder that the concern for human life touches on many issues, not just one.JT: The Pope’s recent book-length interview offers another example of this. In one passage he talks about abortion, and the human cost to society’s future. He wonders how many artistic or scientific geniuses have been lost through abortion, or how many children who might have one day given humanity something new. Then in another section of the book he talks about a different kind of threat to society’s future -- the fact that most countries today are building up huge debts that one day are going to come due. The Pope says: We are living at the expense of future generations. He made it clear he sees economic injustice as part of the modern threat to human life. I’m John Thavis.CG: and I’m Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service.

Carol Glatz: Pope Benedict has opened the season of Advent with a strong call to protect human life in all its stages. We’ll look at the Pope’s message today on the Vatican Report. I’m Carol...leggi tutto