Vatican City, Feb 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Yesterday, in his message delivered from his hospital room at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, John Paul II affirmed urged the faithful to defend and trust the gift of life.
The Pope noted that Italy celebrated the Day for Life yesterday and said that the message of Italian bishops for this occasion "accented the mystery of life as a association which calls for trust.”
“We need to trust life!” he said, “Unborn children silently ask for trust in life. Children who, for diverse reasons are without a family, wish to trust life and hope that they will find a home that will welcome them through adoption or temporary custody.
"With special consideration," the Pope concluded in his Angelus reflections, "I am thinking of the beloved Italian people and everyone who has at heart the defense of nascent life.”
I am especially close to the Italian bishops; may they continue to exhort Catholics and all people of good will to defend the basic right to life, in respect for the dignity of every human person."