Filed under: John Paul II
On June 4, 1991 in Radom, Warsaw, John Paul II spoke from the heart to his countrymen. In reading the following paragraph, one senses that this is not the normal formally prepared text that we typically receive from a Pontiff at a formal gathering. Rather, John Paul expresses anguish as he shares a personal memory with his beloved countrymen.
“Forgive me, dear Brothers and Sisters that I will go further. The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn, of the defenseless whose faces were not known by their own mother, agreeing or yielding under pressure to take their lives before they are born. And yet they had the life, they were conceived, grew under the hearts of their mothers, not sensing their deadly threat. But when the threat became real, these defenseless human beings tried to defend themselves. A film camera registered this desperate defense of an unborn child in the mother’s womb against aggression. Once I saw the film and until today I cannot get rid of it, I cannot erase it from my memory. It is hard to imagine a drama that is more horrible in its moral human expression…”
“…Let us also notice that the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ does not only contain a command. It calls us to assume certain attitudes and positive behavior. Do not kill but rather protect life, protect health and respect the human dignity of every man, regardless of his race or religion, level of intelligence, level of awareness or age, health or illness. Do not kill but rather accept another being as God’s gift – especially if it is your own child.”
For the complete text of his homily in Polish.
For an English translation of four paragraphs.
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