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Pope urges defense for life
Sees nation’s crucial role in Europe

As he met with a new ambassador from Austria in February, Pope John Paul II mentioned his “great concern” about the scientific manipulation of human life. 

Speaking to Walter Greinert, who was presenting his diplomatic credentials, the Holy Father remarked: “Man is now in the situation where he can manipulate and clone human life, and not just observe the first stages of its development.” He said that new power should be matched with a clear sense of responsibility, so that we do not accept the newfound threats against human life with a sense of “resignation.”

Toward that end, the Pope invited Austria to work with the Holy See in developing a “culture of life,” founded on respect for all human persons. That respect could take concrete forms in efforts to promote the health care, housing, and work situations for all citizens. Governments, he said, should not merely give lip service to the rights of citizens in these areas, but take steps to ensure that the rights are not “counterfeit or illusionary.” 

The Pope noted that Austria plays an important role in the European world, by virtue of the country’s central location and past history. He exhorted the Austrian leadership to take steps so that “Europe can be a garden in which many flowers bloom, rather than a stagnant swamp in which they are bound to disappear.”