Pope Francis called Monday for a universal ban on the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity.
In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis lamented that 2024 had dawned at a time in history in which peace is “increasingly threatened, weakened and in some part lost.”
Citing Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, migration, climate crises and the “immoral” production of nuclear and conventional weapons, Francis delivered a lengthy laundry list of the ills afflicting humanity and the increasing violation of international humanitarian law that allows them.
But Francis also listed smaller-scale issues that he said were threats to peace and human dignity, including surrogacy. Francis said the life of the unborn child must be protected and not “suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”
“Hey Mary” “Yes, Joseph” “So, you are pregnant…” “Yes! I told you so already! It was god!” “Yeah, about that, remember the angel, the other day, Gabriel I think it was… big flaming sword you said right? Was that… was that a metaphor or something?” “…” “I mean, you can tell me, we are in this together Mary, I’d just like to know” “No Joseph, no, he had a physical, real, big throbbing sword!” “Throbbing?” “Flaming, Joseph, flaming… YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME”