ROME, Italy — Around 30,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Rome on Saturday, calling for an end to the “barbaric practice” of abortion and the protection of all human life from conception to natural death.
More than 130 pro-life organizations and many families with small children braved Rome’s 90ºF heat to stand up for every human being’s inviolable right to life.
Today, “thousands of voices rang out in Rome, demanding the abolition of abortion, a barbaric and inhuman practice that suppresses the life of a helpless and innocent human being inside her mother’s womb.” Said Jacopo Cogge, one of the organizers of Italy’s annual pro-life march.
Human life “begins at the moment of conception, and the law must recognize the legal personhood and fundamental human rights of the conceived child,” Koge said. “Without respecting the universal right to be born, there can be no truly just, inclusive and equal society.”
Pope Francis arrives to attend his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
in message In a homily read at the event, Pope Francis thanked the participants for their “public witness in defense of human life, from conception to natural death.” Those committed to the pro-life movement, he asserted, “forge ahead with courage in the face of all adversity” because “what is at stake is the absolute dignity of human life, a gift from God the Creator, and is too important to be the subject of compromise or concession.”
Cogge highlighted the “catastrophic demographic crisis” that is causing the collapse of Italy’s entire social system, and called on the government to implement fiscal and infrastructure reforms to enable young, stable families to have more children.
Cogge agreed with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s pro-life stance and expressed his gratitude for the “political change of direction confirmed by the European elections and the debate over the reference to abortion in the G7 final document” and called for further concrete pro-life actions.
“Civilization becomes more human the more it cares for its most vulnerable, its smallest, its poorest and its most defenseless,” organizers argued at the march. Website.
