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Pope Says Defence of Life and Family Urgent as "Numerous Forces Are Trying to Weaken Them"

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

BRINDISI, Italy, June 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI spoke in defense of life and the family in an address to citizens and young people of the southeastern Italian port city of Brindisi yesterday.

At a gathering of over 70,000 in the Piazzale Lenio Flacco, the Pope thanked the young people for their enthusiastic support and then spoke on their needs and those of the family and life.

He declared, "Respect for life, and especially attachment to family, [are] exposed today to numerous forces that are trying to weaken [them]."

"What is necessary and urgent even in the face of these challenges, is that all people of good will commit themselves to safeguard the family, the solid base on which to build the life of society!"

He continued, saying, "The other foundation of your society is the Christian faith, that which your ancestors considered as one of the elements that established the identity of Brindisi."

"May adherence to the Gospel, knowingly renewed and lived with responsibility, move you, today as yesterday, to tackle with confidence the difficulties and challenges of the present moment."

"May faith encourage you to respond without compromises to the legitimate expectations of the human and social concerns of your city."

The Holy Father told the youth that their "exuberant voices and desire to live" spoke of their confidence. Yet, he said, he was aware of the burden many of them carried because of the problem of unemployment in southern Italy.

"I know that your youth is threatened by the call of quick profits, the temptation to take refuge in the artificial paradise or the attractive forms of satisfaction distorted by materialism. Do not let down your guard against the snares of evil! Look rather to a life full of values, to give birth to a society more just and more open to the future. Put to good use the gifts which God has endowed you with: strength, intelligence, courage, enthusiasm and the desire to live. And the way of goodness - you know - has a name: it is called love."

He concluded by stating that hope is rooted in authentic love and that the love of God is in fact the "sweet and compassionate face of Jesus Christ. Christ is the answer to your questions and problems, and He defends every honest aspiration of the human being."

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