Pope Francis is flanked by Vatican Head Master of Ceremonies, Bishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, right, and Master of Ceremonies, Bishop Krysztof Marcjanowicz as he presides over a mass in St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican on New Year's Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with a renewed appeal for the faithful to reject abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life from conception to natural death.
Francis, 88, celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday that was dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
In his homily, he prayed that everyone learns to care for “every child born of a woman” and to protect “the precious gift of life: life in the womb, the lives of children, the lives of the suffering, the poor, the elderly, the lonely and the dying.”
“I ask for a firm commitment to respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, so that each person may cherish his or her own life and all may look with hope to the future,” he said, using the terminology of the church’s opposition to abortion and euthanasia.
In recent years, the Argentine Jesuit has been speaking out more emphatically about abortion than he did at the start of his pontificate. After two doctrinaire popes, Francis complained in the first months of his papacy in 2013 that the church had become obsessed by “small-minded rules” about hot-button issues such as abortion.
Pope Francis delivers his homily during a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Francis now regularly refers to procuring an abortion as “hiring a hitman to solve a problem.”
He recently sparked outrage in Belgium when he criticized its abortion law as “homicidal” and announced he wanted to beatify Belgium’s late king who abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation legalizing the procedure. The Vatican recently announced that the beatification process is under way for King Baudouin, who died in 1993.
The morning Mass marked the final big event of Francis’ busy Christmas schedule. For the pope, who suffers from recurrent respiratory problems, this year’s season was even more challenging with the start of the Vatican’s big Holy Year, a once-every-quarter-century celebration of the faith that is expected to bring 32 million pilgrims to Rome during 2025.
Speaking to pilgrims who gathered in a sun-filled St. Peter’s Square, Francis recalled the Jubilee’s central message of the need to forgive debts. He again called for world leaders from wealthy countries to eliminate or reduce the debts owed by poorer countries.
Francis urged Christian leaders, in particular, “to provide a good example” by taking the lead to forgive debts.
Pope Francis presides over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis presides over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis presides over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis delivers his homily during a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis presides over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Faithful and a pontifical Swiss guard follow Pope Francis presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Bishops follow Pope Francis presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Faithful and a pontifical Swiss guard follow Pope Francis presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis appears at his studio’s window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis appears at his studio’s window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis appears at his studio’s window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis appears at his studio’s window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)A Christmas tree decoration reflects St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican when Pope Francis appeared at his studio’s window overlooking the square to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis appears at his studio’s window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis leaves at the end of a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis kisses a wooden statuette of the infant Jesus at the end of a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis kisses a wooden statuette of the infant Jesus at the end of a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Pope Francis appears at his studio’s window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to bless pilgrims and faithful after presiding over a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.
