Pope Francis today called for a universal ban on what he called the “deplorable” practice of surrogacy, and included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual address that lists threats to global peace and human dignity.
In a speech on foreign policy to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis referred to wars, the climate and migration crises and the production of weapons and other evils that affect humanity.
Regarding surrogacy, the pontiff stated that the life of the unborn must be protected and not be “suppressed or converted into a commercial product.”
The pontiff stated that “a child is always a gift and never the object of a contract” and urged the international community to “universally prohibit this practice.”
Pope Francis has previously expressed the Catholic Church’s opposition to what he has described as “wombs for rent.”
