In a Vatican address that touched on justice, prisoners’ rights, family life and the protection of vulnerable groups, the new Pope declared that abortion “cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life,” while warning against what he described as deceptive forms of compassion promoted by modern societies.
Pope Leo has come down hard on abortion and surrogacy, branding both practices as assaults on human dignity in what is seen as his first major intervention on some of the most contentious moral issues facing the global community.
In a Vatican address that touched on justice, prisoners’ rights, family life and the protection of vulnerable groups, the new Pope declared that abortion “cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life,” while warning against what he described as deceptive forms of compassion promoted by modern societies.
The pontiff framed his position within a broader reflection on human dignity, saying, “human beings are created in the image and likeness of God who by calling them into existence out of love has at the same time called them to love.”
According to him, this calling finds its most concrete expression within the family, which he said is under sustained pressure globally.
“Despite its centrality, the institution of the family faces two crucial challenges today,” Pope Leo said.
He cited neglect by the international system and the rise of “fragile, broken, and suffering families afflicted by internal difficulties and disturbing phenomena, including domestic violence.”
He stressed that the union between a man and a woman carries a moral obligation toward unborn children, noting that “the vocation to love and to life… implies a fundamental ethical imperative for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life.”
Condemning abortion in unequivocal terms, the Pope said the Holy See was deeply troubled by international efforts to expand access to the procedure across borders.
“The Holy See expresses deep concern about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility for the purpose of accessing the so-called right to safe abortion,” he said, adding that it was “deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life rather than being invested to support mothers and families.”
He further insisted that “the primary objective must remain the protection of every unborn child and the effective and concrete support of every woman so that she is able to welcome life.”
Pope Leo also condemned surrogacy, describing it as a practice that strips both women and children of their dignity. “By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a product, and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process and distorting the original relational calling of the family,” he said.
In the same speech, the pontiff denounced euthanasia, describing it as “deceptive forms of compassion,” while calling on states to invest in palliative care and authentic solidarity.
He also spoke on prisoners’ rights, political detainees, migrants, and the abolition of the death penalty, which he described as “a measure that destroys all hope of forgiveness and renewal.”
The speech marks Pope Leo’s clearest articulation yet of his moral priorities and signals a continuation, and possible intensification, of the Vatican’s opposition to abortion, surrogacy and euthanasia, setting the tone for his papacy on issues that continue to divide governments, activists and faith communities worldwide.