Pope Francis criticized the idea of women believing they have a “right to a child” in a recent declaration published by the Vatican titled “Infinite Dignity.”
This declaration outlined the Catholic Church’s stance on abortion, surrogacy, and transgender rights.
The declaration emphasized that surrogacy undermines the dignity of the child, asserting that every child has the right to originate naturally and receive life as a gift that upholds the dignity of both the giver and the receiver.
Pope Francis stressed that while the desire for a child is valid, it should not be transformed into a supposed “right to a child” that disregards the child’s inherent dignity as a recipient of the gift of life.
These remarks echo Pope Francis’s previous criticism of surrogacy, where he condemned it as exploitative and a violation of both woman and child’s dignity. He called for a global prohibition on what he described as the “commercialization” of pregnancy.
The Vatican’s “Infinite Dignity” declaration was approved by Pope Francis on March 25 and published by the Doctrine Office on Monday.
The document reaffirms the biological differences between man and woman as part of God’s creation and emphasizes the importance of respecting these differences without attempting to alter or defy them.
