AP News, April 22nd, 2007
Pope Benedict XVI called Sunday for life in all its phases to be respected and defended, saying such a fundamental value must accompany any medical advances.
Benedict made the comment during a visit to St. Matthew hospital in Pavia, south of Milan, where he met with patients on the second day of a weekend pastoral visit to the tomb of St. Augustine, whose life and writings have greatly influenced Benedict.
The hospital visit was the first in a busy day for the pontiff, including an open-air Mass, a speech at Pavia's university and a prayer service at Augustine's tomb in the San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro basilica.
Benedict praised medical advances, saying they were alleviating the suffering of many people.
"It is my true hope that the necessary scientific and technological progress are constantly accompanied by the conscience to also promote ... those fundamental values like the respect of human life in each of its phases," he said.
Benedict has repeatedly campaigned for defense of human life and traditional family. His call for a respect for life in all its phases _ from conception to natural death _ is a Vatican catch phrase to express opposition to abortion and euthanasia.
St. Augustine, who lived from 354-430, was raised a Christian but renounced his faith as a teenager, only to convert again to Christianity in his mid 30s.
His writings are considered by many to be the foundations of Western theology and have greatly influenced Benedict. The pope cites Augustine frequently and wrote his doctoral thesis on him in 1953.
