In his New Year address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis made a strong appeal to respect humanitarian law in conflicts. In his view, the international community should ban “surrogate motherhood”. The pontiff also expressed concern that certain forms of technological control and “anti-conversion laws” deny religious freedom.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis spoke to the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See in his traditional address at the start of the new year.

In today's conflict-ridden world, he said that, “there is a need for greater effort on the part of the international community to defend and implement humanitarian law, which seems to be the only way to ensure the defence of human dignity in situations of warfare.”

“In a context where it appears that the distinction between military and civil objectives is no longer respected, there is no conflict that does not end up in some way indiscriminately striking the civilian population. The events in Ukraine and Gaza are clear proof of this. We must not forget that grave violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes, and that it is not sufficient to point them out, but also necessary to prevent them.”

“Even when it is a question of exercising the right to self-defence, it is essential to adhere to a proportionate use of force,” he noted. “Perhaps we need to realize more clearly that civilian victims are not ‘collateral damage’.”

These are “men and women, with names and surnames, who lose their lives. They are children who are orphaned and deprived of their future. They are individuals who suffer from hunger, thirst and cold, or are mutilated as an effect of the power of modern explosives.

“Were we to be able to look each of them in the eye, call them by name, and learn something of their personal history, we would see war for what it is: nothing other than an immense tragedy, a ‘useless slaughter’, one that offends the dignity of every person on this earth.”

The pope’s appeal came after he focused on several ongoing conflicts in the world. Citing Pius XII who, in his Christmas radio message of 1944, expressed hope that humanity would learn from the tragic experience of the world war and see the need for a "profound renewal" in relations between peoples, Francis bitterly observed how this impetus now seems to have been shattered by “a third world war fought piecemeal".

Reiterating his concern for what is happening in Israel and Palestine since 7 October, the Holy Father again called for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire on all fronts, "including Lebanon”.

“It is my hope that the international community will pursue with determination the solution of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, as well as an internationally guaranteed special status for the City of Jerusalem, so that Israelis and Palestinians may finally live in peace and security.”

As for the “large-scale war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine,” the pope said that, “One cannot allow the persistence of a conflict that continues to metastasize, to the detriment of millions of persons; it is necessary to put an end to the present tragedy through negotiations, in respect for international law.”

The pontiff also urged the world not to forget the other conflicts that are shedding blood around the world, starting with Myanmar’s. To this end, he pleaded that “every effort be made to offer hope to that land and a dignified future to its young, while at the same time not neglecting the humanitarian emergency that the Rohingya continue to experience.”

Urging Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty, he called for a solution to the tragic humanitarian situation of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is necessary to favour “the return of refugees to their own homes in legality and security and with respect for the places of worship of the different religious confessions present there,” he said.

Speaking out against the huge number of weapons in the world, he called "illusory" the idea that they can be a deterrent to conflicts.

“The contrary is true: the availability of weapons encourages their use and increases their production. Weapons create mistrust and divert resources. How many lives could be saved with the resources that today are misdirected to weaponry?”

It based precisely on the logic of disarmament that he also called for the resumption of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Francis also noted that, “The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”

“I deem deplorable,” he noted, “the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”

He also warned against “ideological colonization, in which gender theory plays a central role; the latter is extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal. These instances of ideological colonization prove injurious and create divisions between states, rather than fostering peace.”

With respect to the violation of religious freedom, the pontiff expressed sorrow for the fact that an “increasing number of countries are adopting models of centralized control over religious freedom, especially by the massive use of technology”, as well as relentless animosity against minorities through “attacks on their cultural heritage and more subtle measures such as the proliferation of anti-conversion laws, the manipulation of electoral rules and financial restrictions.”

He expressed equal concern over the rise in anti-Semitic incidents and the "more than 360 million Christians around the world [who] are experiencing a high level of discrimination and persecution because of their faith, with more and more of them being forced to flee their homelands.”

Last but not least, the Holy Father spoke to the diplomats about artificial intelligence and its use, which was at the core of his message for this year's World Day of Peace.

“[C]areful reflection is required at every level, national and international, political and social, to ensure that the development of artificial intelligence remains at the service of men and women, fostering and not obstructing – especially in the case of young people – interpersonal relations, a healthy spirit of fraternity, critical thinking and a capacity for discernment.”

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• surrogate motherhood
• gender theory