Pope Francis supports Polish Catholics in the fight against abortion

Pope Francis told Polish Catholics on Wednesday that he is asking for the intercession of St. John Paul II for respect for life, amid protests in Poland over a law that prohibits abortion.

"Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy and the Holy Polish Pontiff, I ask God to arouse in the hearts every respect for the life of our brothers, especially the most fragile and defenseless, and to give strength to those who welcome and care of you, even when it requires heroic love ”, Pope Francis said on October 28 in his message to Polish pilgrims.

The pope's comments came just days after the Polish constitutional court ruled that a law allowing abortion for fetal abnormalities was unconstitutional on October 22. Protesters were filmed as they interrupted Sunday masses after the sentence.

Pope Francis noted that October 22 was the feast of St. John Paul II, and recalled: "He always invoked a privileged love for the least and defenseless and for the protection of every human being from conception to natural death".

In his catechesis for the general audience, the pope said it is important to remember that "Jesus prays with us".

"This is the unique greatness of Jesus' prayer: the Holy Spirit takes possession of His person and the voice of the Father attests that He is the Beloved, the Son in whom He fully reflects Himself", Pope Francis said in Paul VI of the Vatican City Audience Hall.

Jesus invites every Christian to "pray as he prayed", the pope said, adding that Pentecost provided this "grace of prayer for all baptized into Christ".

“So, if during an evening of prayer we feel lazy and empty, if it seems to us that life has been completely useless, we must at that moment beg that Jesus' prayer also become ours. 'I can't pray today, I don't know what to do: I don't want to, I'm unworthy.' "

“At that moment… entrust yourself to Him, to pray for us. At this moment he is before the Father, he prays for us, he is the intercessor; Show the wounds to the Father, for us. We trust that, it's great, ”he said.

The pope said that in prayer one can hear God's words to Jesus at his baptism at the Jordan River tenderly whispered as a message for each person: “You are the beloved of God, you are a son, you are the joy of the Father in heaven. "

Because of his incarnation, "Jesus is not a distant God," the pope explained.

"In the whirlwind of life and the world that will come to condemn him, even in the hardest and most painful experiences he will have to endure, even when he experiences that he has nowhere to rest his head, even when hatred and persecution are Unleashed around him, Jesus is never without the refuge of a dwelling: he lives eternally in the Father, ”said Pope Francis.

“Jesus gave us his prayer, which is his loving dialogue with the Father. He gave it to us as the seed of the Trinity, which wants to take root in our hearts. We welcome him. We welcome this gift, the gift of prayer. Always with him, ”he said.

The Pope emphasized in his greeting to the Italian pilgrims that October 28 is the feast of the Holy Apostles. Simon and Jude.

“I urge you to follow their example by always putting Christ at the center of your life, to be true witnesses of his Gospel in our society,” he said. “I wish everyone to grow every day in the contemplation of the goodness and tenderness that radiates from the person of Christ”.