CASTEL GANDOLFO – Pope John Paul II has used his last Sunday address of 1997 to speak of the threat to the family.

From a villa in the countryside south of Rome, the pope said:  There exist too many attacks on the family, a structure which is fundamental to a free and civil society.” Celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family and looking well-rested after a cumbersome holiday schedule, the pontiff addressed 1,000 pilgrims from a site that is usually used as a retreat from the powerful Roman summer.

“I think of the persistent threat that puts in danger and exploits the life of many nuclear families – poverty, unemployment, homelessness and the mentality that opposes the gift of life,” the pope said. HE also spoke about abortion, euthanasia and individualism, factors he often cites as isolating the family and condemning to solitude the weak, such as the elderly.

The Vatican has long been at loggerheads with foreign governments over some of these issues. In 1996, the Holy Father criticized U.S. President Bill Clinto for vetoing a bill that would have banned late-term  partial-birth” abortions.

– via Pro-Life E News Canada