IT IS NECESSARY TO DEFEND AND SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF LIFE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 3, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received the participants of the general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who chose as their theme for reflection: "The culture of life: foundations and dimensions."

The Pope affirmed that "the best way to overcome the dangerous culture of death consists precisely in giving solid foundations and prominent significance to a culture of life which vigorously opposes it. It is not sufficient, even if necessary and proper, to be limited to exposing and denouncing the lethal effects of the culture of death. It is necessary to continually regenerate the inner fabric of contemporary culture."

"The 'Gospel of life'," of which the Encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" speaks, the Holy Father continued, "is a concrete and personal reality, because it consists in announcing the very person of Jesus. ... It involves a fundamental truth that the community of believers, today more than ever, is called to defend and spread."

The Holy Father recalled that "the recovery of the dignity of the body as 'subject', and not simply material 'object', forms the logical consequence of the biblical concept of the person. It involves a unitarian concept of the human being, which many currents of thought, from medieval philosophy to our time, have taught."

The challenges facing humanity today, on one side "from the progress of science and technology, and on the other from the process of the secularization of society, require a passionate and profound effort of reflection on man and on his being in the world and in history. It is necessary to demonstrate a great capacity for dialogue, listening, and proposal, in view of the formation of the conscience. Only thus can life be given to a culture founded on hope and open to the integral progress of every individual in different countries, in a just and sound way. Without a culture that maintains the right to life and promotes the fundamental values of every person, there cannot be a healthy society nor the guarantee of peace and justice."

AC;GOSPEL LIFE;...;ACAD-LIFE;VIS;20010305;Word: 360;