While some criticized Pope Francis for not being more outspoken about abortion during his stay in Washington, DC this week, his speech to the UN was not nearly as nuanced and was laced with stern admonishments about everything from gender theory, abortion, and even the marketing of human tissue in a veiled reference to Planned Parenthood.

Writing for Breitbart, Austin Ruse of the Center for Family and Human Rights said Pope Francis “saved all his conservative civic and social-issues message for the various heads-of-state gathered at the UN General Assembly in New York” which resulted in a highly impactful address.

After praising the UN for its adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Francis reminded those present that the job of world leaders is not just about making commitments.

“Our world demands of all government leaders a will which is effective, practical and constant, concrete steps and immediate measures for preserving and improving the natural environment and thus putting an end as quickly as possible to the phenomenon of social and economic exclusion, with its baneful consequences: human trafficking, the marketing of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of boys and girls, slave labor, including prostitution, the drug and weapons trade, terrorism and international organized crime. Such is the magnitude of these situations and their toll in innocent lives, that we must avoid every temptation to fall into a declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences. We need to ensure that our institutions are truly effective in the struggle against all these scourges.”

The pope also condemned “ideological colonialism” which has plagued African bishops for years and which Ruse calls “a direct reference to the work of some UN agencies and powerful NGOs who have used UN development money to export western-style ideas of human sexuality including contraception, abortion, and a redefinition of the family to include homosexual couples and the new transgender movement.”

The Pope also took aim at the latest cause celebre – gender theory – by highlighting the differences between men and women which are based in nature. He condemned the same ideological colonialization that imposes “anomalous models and lifestyles which are alien to people’s identity.”

Francis specifically mentioned the unborn when referring to the “sacredness of every human life” and minced no words when chastising members of the international community for the lack of coordination of military and political interventions that has led to almost unprecedented persecution of Christians worldwide.

“For this reason, while regretting to have to do so, I must renew my repeated appeals regarding to the painful situation of the entire Middle East, North Africa and other African countries, where Christians, together with other cultural or ethnic groups, and even members of the majority religion who have no desire to be caught up in hatred and folly, have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property, and have faced the alternative either of fleeing or of paying for their adhesion to good and to peace by their own lives, or by enslavement.

“These realities should serve as a grave summons to an examination of conscience on the part of those charged with the conduct of international affairs. Not only in cases of religious or cultural persecution, but in every situation of conflict, as in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region, real human beings take precedence over partisan interests, however legitimate the latter may be. In wars and conflicts there are individual persons, our brothers and sisters, men and women, young and old, boys and girls who weep, suffer and die. Human beings who are easily discarded when our only response is to draw up lists of problems, strategies and disagreements.”

He concluded by saying: “The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic. This common house of all men and women must also be built on the understanding of a certain sacredness of created nature.

“Such understanding and respect call for a higher degree of wisdom, one which accepts transcendence, rejects the creation of an all-powerful élite, and recognizes that the full meaning of individual and collective life is found in selfless service to others and in the sage and respectful use of creation for the common good. To repeat the words of Paul VI, ‘the edifice of modern civilization has to be built on spiritual principles, for they are the only ones capable not only of supporting it, but of shedding light on it’ (ibid.).”

Click here for the full text of the pope’s remarks.

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