Francis receives participants in the meeting sponsored by the Science and Life Association in audience: "I see your association as hands reaching out to other hands to sustain life." A just society "recognizes the primary right to life from conception to its natural end," but "must also go further and reflect on the use we make of it."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Euthanasia, abortion, the migrant boat tragedies, death from malnutrition or at work, terrorism, war and violence are all "attacks on the sanctity of human life" over which a civilized society should question itself to find solutions and continue on the road to development. This was the heart of the message that Pope Francis had this morning for members of the Science and Life Association, received the conclusion of the conference on "What science for what life?".

In his speech, the Pope stressed that the service of the Association for the benefit of human life is "important and encouraging. In fact, the protection and promotion of life represent a critical task, especially in a society marked by the negative logic of a throw away culture. For this, I see your association as hands reaching out to other hands to sustain life. "

This, said Francis, is a "challenge, in which you are guided by an attitude of openness, attention, closeness to people in their concrete situation. This is very good. Hands that grasp each other not only guarantee stability and balance, but also transmit human warmth. In order to protect the person you place two essential actions at the heart of your mission: going out to encounter people and encountering people to support them. The dynamism of this joint motion from the center to the peripheries. At the center is Christ. And this focus will direct you towards the different conditions of human life”.

The love of Christ, the Pope resumed, "impels us (cf. 2 Cor 5:14) to make us servants of children and the elderly, of every man and woman, whose primordial right to life should be recognized and protected. The existence of the human person, to which you dedicate your concern, is also your constitutive principle;  life in its unfathomable depth which originates and accompanies the journey of science; it is the miracle of life that always upsets some form of scientific presumption, restoring primacy to wonder and beauty ".

So may Christ, who is the light of man and the world, "illuminate the road so that science is always a wisdom at the service of life. When this light is lacking, when knowledge forgets contact with life, it becomes sterile. For this, I invite you to keep your gaze fixed high upon the sacredness of every human person, so that science is truly at the service of man, and not man at the service of science. "

Scientific reflection, emphasized Francis, "uses a magnifying glass to stop and analyze certain details. And thanks to this capability to analysis we reaffirm that a just society recognizes the primacy of the right to life from conception to its natural end. But I want us to go beyond this, and carefully consider the time that unites the beginning with the end. Therefore, recognizing the inestimable value of human life, we must also consider the use we make of it. Life is above all a gift. But this reality generates hope and a future if it is enlivened by fruitful ties, by family and social relationships that open new perspectives. "

 And that's why "the degree of progress of a civilization is measured by its ability to protect life, especially in its more fragile early stages, rather than by its technological advances. When we speak of man, we never forget all the attacks on the sanctity of human life. The scourge of abortion is an attack on life. Leaving our brothers on the boats in the Sicilian channel is an attack on life. Death at work is an attack on life because it does not respect the minimal security conditions. Death from malnutrition is an attack on life. Terrorism, war, violence; but also euthanasia are attacks on life. Love of life means always taking care of others, wanting the common good, and cultivating respect for the transcendent dignity of people".

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