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The Pope calls for banning surrogacy due to “grave violation of the mother and child”

Author:
Oleksandra Opanasenko
Date:

Pope Francis called for a universal ban on the practice of surrogacy and opposed the "commercialization" of pregnancy.

The Independent writes about it.

In an address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, the pontiff named problems that have a detrimental effect on humanity. One of them is surrogate motherhood. He declared that surrogacy was a "grave violation of the mother and child" and called on the international community to ban the practice.

"I consider despicable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract," noted the Pope.

In his address, Pope Francis also mentioned the war in Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas, migration, climate crises, and the production of conventional and nuclear weapons. In addition, during the speech, the Pope accused Russia of waging a full-scale war against Ukraine, although he previously avoided direct accusations of Moscow.

"Unfortunately, after almost two years of the Russian Federationʼs large-scale war against Ukraine, such a longed-for peace has still not found its place in minds and hearts, despite the numerous victims and enormous destruction," the Pope stated.