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   PROMOTING A CULTURE RESPECTFUL OF LIFE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 27 NOV 2010 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica this evening, the   
   Holy Father presided at first Vespers for the first Sunday of Advent. This   
   year's ceremony included a "vigil for unborn life", promoted by the Pontifical   
   Council for the Family, which was also celebrated in dioceses all over the   
   world.   
      
   Benedict XVI began his homily by noting that "with this celebration of Vespers   
   the Lord gives us the grace and joy to begin the new liturgical year", in which   
   "we will feel that the Church takes us by the hand and, in the image of Most   
   Holy Mary, expresses her maternity by enabling us to experience the joyful   
   expectation of the coming of the Lord, Who embraces us all in His salvific and   
   consoling love".   
      
   Highlighting the fact that this evening's celebration "is being enriched" with   
   the solemn prayer vigil for unborn life, the Pope thanked "everyone who has   
   taken up this invitation, and those who specifically dedicate themselves to   
   protecting human life in various situations of fragility, especially at its   
   beginnings and in its first stages".   
      
   "The Incarnation reveals to us - with intense light and in a surprising way -   
   that each human life has exalted and incomparable dignity. Man has an   
   unmistakeable originality with respect to all other living things which inhabit   
   the earth. He is a unique and distinctive being, gifted with intelligence and   
   free will, as well as being composed of material reality. He simultaneously and   
   inseparably lives in the spiritual and the corporeal dimensions".   
      
   "God loves us deeply, completely, without distinction", the Pope explained. "He   
   calls us to be His friends. He brings us to share in a reality which is beyond   
   all imagination, all thoughts or words: His divine life. Moved and grateful, we   
   become aware of the value and incomparable dignity of each human being, and of   
   the great responsibility we have towards others".   
      
   Human beings, said the Pope, "have the right not to be treated as objects to be   
   possessed, or things to be manipulated at will; not to be reduced to the status   
   of a mere tool for the benefit of others and their interests. Human beings are   
   a good per se, and it is necessary always to seek their integral development.   
   Love for everyone, if sincere, spontaneously turns into preferential attention   
   for the weakest and poorest. This is the context of the Church's concern for   
   nascent life, which is the most fragile, the most threatened by the selfishness   
   of adults and the clouding of conscience. The Church continually repeats   
   Vatican Council II's declarations against abortion and all other violations of   
   unborn life: 'from the moment of its conception life must be guarded with the   
   greatest care'".   
      
   The Holy Father went on: "There are cultural tendencies which seek to   
   anaesthetise people's consciences by using pretexts" Yet, "as concerns the   
   embryo in the womb, science itself highlights its autonomy and capacity for   
   interaction with the mother, the co-ordination of its biological processes, the   
   continuity of its development, the increasing complexity of the organism. It is   
   not simply an accumulation of biological matter, but a new living being, ... a   
   new individual of the human race. This is how Jesus was in Mary's womb; this is   
   how it is for each one of us in our mother's womb".   
      
   Benedict XVI lamented the fact that "even after birth the life of children   
   continues to be exposed to abandonment, to hunger and misery, to sickness,   
   abuse, violence and exploitation. The multiple violations of children's rights   
   committed in the world are a painful wound on the conscience of all men and   
   women of good will. Faced with the sad spectacle of the injustices committed   
   against the life of man, both before and after birth, I reiterate John Paul   
   II's impassioned appeal for responsibility: 'respect, protect, love and serve   
   life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice,   
   development, true freedom, peace and happiness!'"   
      
   In this context, the Pope also exhorted "political, economic and media leaders   
   to do everything they can to promote a culture that is ever more respectful of   
   human life, in order to create favourable conditions and support-networks that   
   welcome life and ensure its development".   
      
   At the end of the celebration of Vespers the Holy Father read a "Prayer for   
   Life" specially composed for this occasion.   
   HML/VIS 20101129 (730)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
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