In message, pope thanks Italian movement for supporting 'culture of life'

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Defending the life of the unborn should be a sign of being in solidarity "with all the discarded of the world," Pope Francis said in a message sent from his hospital room to an Italian pro-life group.

Italy's Movement for Life, "in harmony with the whole church," places at the center of its concern "the dignity of the person, and it privileges those who are weakest," the pope said in a message signed March 5 "from the Gemelli Polyclinic," where he has been hospitalized since Feb. 14.

Thousands of people from all over Italy gathered at the Vatican March 8 to celebrate the movement's 50th anniversary and participate in events for the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering. Members of the movement staff 350 assistance centers across the country, run a 24-hour hotline, staff homes for pregnant women in difficulty and for new mothers and their babies and have helped establish 64 "baby hatches" at public hospitals where mothers in difficulty can leave their newborns.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, celebrated Mass for the group in St. Peter's Basilica and read the pope's message.

"Along with concrete solidarity, lived in the style of closeness and proximity to mothers in difficulty because of a difficult or unexpected pregnancy, you promote the culture of life in a broad sense," the pope's message said. "And you seek to do so with frankness, love and tenacity, keeping truth closely united with charity toward all."

Building a "culture of life," the pope said, includes helping women who feel pressured into aborting their children.

"Continue to count on women (and) their capacity for acceptance, generosity and courage," the pope said. "Women must be able to count on the support of the entire civil and ecclesial community."

Pope Francis told the members that in the past 50 years, "unfortunately the throwaway culture has spread," which is why "more than ever there is a need for people of every age who concretely give of themselves to serve human life, especially when it is at its most fragile and vulnerable."

"A just society," he said, "is not built by eliminating the unwanted unborn, the elderly who are no longer autonomous or the incurably ill."

"The unborn child represents, par excellence, every man and woman who does not count and has no voice," Pope Francis wrote. "Taking their side means being in solidarity with all the discarded of the world."