PAPAL IN-FLIGHT PRESSER: Pope Leo defended the many speeches he gave regarding the sanctity of life in France this wknd.
His addresses were in juxtaposition with recently enacted anti-life legislation.
“When I went to France, I went primarily to preach the Gospel, to preach the Good News, to reaffirm what Jesus Christ Himself says when He says I am the way, the truth, and the life, so to speak the truth that Jesus offers us.
“The defence of life is something that as you all know the Church teaches, believes very deeply.
“And so, on the one hand obviously knowing that in France the law was recently approved –– in other countries in Europe as well as other parts of the world there is a lot of debating going on about the questions of end-of-life issues –– but being in a place especially like Lourdes where people are searching for something much deeper and understanding that their lives, even in the midst of sickness or disability or pain of different kinds, that their life has meaning.
“The Church, because of Jesus Himself, wants to be close to those people and to affirm the values that life itself I think holds for all of us.
“I would say, if that's politics, I did that, but it was not to get involved in French politics. It was to teach what the Church really believes.”