Pope Leo has condemned abortion and surrogacy, describing both practices as assaults on human dignity in his first intervention on some of the most divisive moral questions confronting the global community.
Speaking at the Vatican in an address that ranged widely across social justice, family life and the protection of vulnerable groups, the new pontiff said abortion “cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life,” while warning against what he characterised as misleading notions of compassion promoted by modern societies.
Framing his remarks within a broader theological reflection, Pope Leo said human dignity flows from the belief that people are created “in the image and likeness of God,” called into existence by love and, in turn, called to love others.
He argued that this vocation finds its clearest expression within the family, an institution he said is under sustained global pressure.
Despite its central role, he said, families are increasingly weakened by neglect from international systems and by internal crises, including domestic violence and social instability.
The Pope said the union between a man and a woman carries a moral responsibility towards unborn children, insisting that the call to love and life implies a fundamental ethical duty to protect and nurture life before birth.
Condemning abortion in unambiguous terms, he criticised international initiatives designed to expand access to the procedure across national borders.
The Holy See, he said, views with alarm projects that finance cross-border travel for what is described as the right to safe abortion, adding that it is “deplorable” for public funds to be used to end life rather than to support mothers and families.
He said the protection of every unborn child must remain the primary objective, alongside practical and effective support for women so they are able to welcome new life.
Pope Leo also denounced surrogacy, saying it undermines the dignity of both women and children.
By turning pregnancy into a contractual service, he said, the practice reduces the child to a commodity and exploits the woman’s body, distorting the relational foundations of family life.
In the same address, the pontiff criticised euthanasia, which he described as a deceptive form of compassion, and urged governments to prioritise palliative care and genuine solidarity with the sick and elderly.
He also spoke on a range of human rights issues, including the treatment of prisoners, the plight of political detainees and migrants, and renewed his call for the abolition of the death penalty, which he said extinguishes any hope of forgiveness and moral renewal.
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