Although Pope Francis has built a reputation as one of the most tolerant heads of the Catholic Church in recent history, some of his latest comments against abortion reveal Francis is definitely keeping up with the status quo of his predecessors.
According to CNN, in some off-the-cut comments to a delegation of Italy's Family Association in Rome on Saturday, Pope Francis compared having an abortion in order to avoid birth defects to the Nazi-era eugenics program. The Nazis infamously utilized eugenics in order to create a “pure race” by sterilizing people with any sort of physical or mental illness and aborting unhealthy children.
"I have heard that it's fashionable, or at least usual, that when in the first months of pregnancy they do studies to see if the child is healthy or has something, the first offer is: let's send it away," Pope Francis reportedly said. "I say this with pain. In the last century the whole world was scandalized about what the Nazis did to purify the race. Today we do the same, but now with white gloves."
In addition to his disapproval of fetal testing and abortion, Francis also emphasized the Roman Catholic definition of a family. Though he's previously shared several messages of love and acceptance of people in the LGTBQ community, these comments reveal Pope Francis doesn’t consider queer families to be in the image of god.
"Today, it is hard to say this, we speak of 'diversified' families: different types of families. It is true that the word 'family' is an analogical word, because we speak of the 'family' of stars, 'family' of trees, 'family' of animals...it is an analogical word. But the human family in the image of God, man and woman, is the only one. It is the only one. A man and woman can be non-believers: but if they love each other and unite in marriage, they are in the image of God even if they don't believe," the Pope said.
