Archbishop calls for saint’s help to protect the unborn

Sydney
14 April 2002

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Archbishop calls for saint’s help to protect the unborn

Archbishop Pell called on St Thérèse – the saint for ordinary people – to bless his efforts and the efforts of others to protect those who are perhaps the most lowly of all, those yet unborn.

In a media interview before the cathedral Mass for St Thérèse, the archbishop said he would be asking the Little Flower, as St Thérèse is known, to guide the efforts of all humanists – not just religious people – as they explained to politicians and others why it is important to protect human life, even at the earliest stages.

He was referring to the on-going campaign to combat abortion and to recent efforts by Christians and others to prevent embryonic stem cells being used in stem-cell research.

Most of these embryos are left over from IVF treatments; using them for genetic research entails their destruction.

The archbishop said he would pray to St Thérèse for help in explaining to people what truly happens in abortion and also in explaining the difficult and vexed issue of stem-cell research.

We need “to try to explain the significance of defending human life even at the very early stages”, he said.

“I think half the population, half the politicians, are uncertain, unsure,” he added. “I think they are there to be convinced one way or the other.”

He took up this theme again in his homily.

The archbishop called on the congregation to “work to understand what is at stake in stem cell research and then strive to explain these principles to our fellow Australians and politicians”.

There will be a free vote in Australian parliaments in the months ahead, he said, so we should ask St Thérèse for help so we will have the persistence and wisdom that will allow us to be effective here.