Pope Leo XIV yesterday warned that modern conflicts and widening social disparities are eroding respect for human life and equal access to health care. Source: EWTN News.
The Pontiff told members of the Pontifical Academy for Life that “all lives are not equally respected and health is neither protected nor promoted in the same way for everyone”.
Addressing participants in the academy’s plenary assembly in the Apostolic Palace, the Pope praised the meeting’s theme – “Health Care for All: Sustainability and Equity” – and lamented that “in a world scarred by conflicts, which consume enormous economic, technological, and organisational resources in the production of arms and other types of military equipment, it has never been more important to dedicate time, people, and expertise to safeguarding life and health”.
He cited Pope Francis’ insistence that health care cannot be treated as a luxury, noting that it “is not a consumer good but a universal right, which means that access to health care services cannot be a privilege”.
Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, Leo said it “has become clear how much reciprocity and interdependence underpin our health and our very lives”, adding that this reality demands collaboration across disciplines, including “medicine, politics, ethics, management, and others”.
Turning to global disparities, the Pope said that when we examine “life expectancy and the quality of health in different countries and social groups, we discover enormous inequalities” tied to factors such as income, education, and the neighbourhoods where people live.
He also deplored wars that strike civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, calling them “the most grave attacks that human hands can make against life and public health.”
“It is often said that life and health are equally fundamental values for all,” he said, “but this statement is hypocritical if, at the same time, we ignore the structural causes and policies that determine inequalities.”
The Pope urged renewed commitment to the common good, warning it can become “an abstract and irrelevant notion” unless it is rooted in strong social bonds.
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Pope Leo XIV: ‘All lives are not equally respected’ amid war and inequality (By Marco Mancini, EWTN News)
