BEING PRO-LIFE is not an option but the responsibility of every Christian, because it calls us to recognise the dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God. This year, on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8 is celebrated as the Pro-Life Day. The Catholic Church teaches that every human life must be respected, protected and loved, from conception to natural death.
It is the sacred vocation of a Christian to stand in defence of right to life—from the unborn in the womb to the elderly and the sick. Surprisingly the term pro-life is often misunderstood by people and many consider it merely as an issue of the rights of the unborn and therefor a movement against abortion. The scope of pro-life goes far beyond the life of the foetus in the womb.
Caring for the street sleepers, struggles against any human discrimination, protection of refugees and migrants, caring for the elderly and the prisoners are also issues within the purview of being pro-life. Giving life is the work of God and by caring for this God-given life, humankind is called to participate in the work of God. But unfortunately, the dignity and life of people are constantly under attack.
Pope Francis provides a comprehensive understanding of being pro-life when he says, “The life we are called to promote and defend is not an abstract concept, but always manifests itself in a person in flesh and blood: a newly conceived child, a poor marginalized person, a sick person alone and discouraged or in a terminal state, one who has lost his job or is unable to find it, a rejected or ghettoised migrant.” Hence, being pro-life is neither age-specific, nor gender, culture or race-specific. It’s more than a movement, it needs to be a way of life.
Although these are some of the pressing issues that dehumanise and destroy the humanity, the gravest of them all is the threat to the lives of the unborn. How ironic it is to see around the world, everyone cries for upholding the value of life and mighty powers that proudly proclaim themselves to be champions of human rights but blatantly violate the most basic of all human rights: the right to life!
Perhaps it is time to expand our understanding of what it means to be pro-life today in our surroundings. Saying Yes to life is the first step. Pope Francis has consistently echoed two principles for being pro-life: to resist the throwaway culture and to promote a culture of encounter.
The Church in Hong Kong must innovate ways in dealing with the throwaway culture that has become the norm of the day. A throwaway culture teaches us to search for ways to maximise profit and minimise loss. It urges us to dispose of everything that is inconvenient, inefficient or burdensome. And the tragedy is that society—and even governments—transmits messages to the youngsters that their pregnancy is inconvenient and burdensome and their elderly or terminally ill family members are useless.
The antidote to the throwaway culture is what Pope Francis calls a “culture of encounter.” This calls on the people of God to “get our hands dirty and move out of our safe spaces to the peripheries, where we can encounter the excluded and marginalised.” Pro-Life Day is an invocation to care for the life of our neighbour, to empathise with their pain and their pleas and to share our joys and comforts with the less fortunate. Jose
