"I feel it urgent to state that, if the family is the sanctuary of life, the place where life is conceived and cared for, it is a horrendous contradiction when it becomes a place where life is rejected and destroyed," he said. "So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother's womb, that no alleged right to one's own body can justify a decision to terminate that life, which is an end in itself and which can never be considered the 'property' of another human being."
"The family protects human life in all its stages, including its last," he added. "If a child comes into this world in unwanted circumstances, the parents and other members of the family must do everything possible to accept that child as a gift from God and assume the responsibility of accepting him or her with openness and affection."
The Pope characterized euthanasia and assisted suicide as "serious threats to families worldwide." In response, the Church must assist families who take care of their elderly and infirm.
Amoris Laetitia also reaffirmed Catholic teaching against contraception and sterilization.
The synod lamented population decline and the anti-child mentality "promoted by the world politics of reproductive health." These factors will harm the ability to support the elderly, impoverishment and a loss of hope. For some, economic problems will deter people from children, while for others consumerism will.
Pope Francis cited the synod's recommendation for a return to the message of Blessed Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which upheld Catholic teaching on contraception. He also noted the need for responsible parenthood given couples' circumstances.
The Synod Fathers had criticized a "gender ideology" that "denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family." They said this ideology's educational and legislative programs radically separate personal identity from the biological difference between male and female and treat human identity as "the choice of the individual."
Francis voiced concern that these ideologies "manage to assert themselves as absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised."
The synod also discussed artificial human reproduction that separates reproduction from a sexual relationship between a man and a woman.
The Pope said these ideologies "attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality."
"Let us not fall into the sin of trying to replace the Creator. We are creatures, and not omnipotent. Creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift," he said.
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Pope Francis also responded to the synod on the topic of homosexuality.
"The Church makes her own the atti¬tude of the Lord Jesus, who offers his bound¬less love to each person without exception," he said. "We would like before all else to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration."
He cited the Catechism's rejection of unjust discrimination and also rejected all forms of aggression and violence.
Families whose members include people with same-sex attraction should have "respectful pasto-ral guidance" to help those with this orientation "receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God's will in their lives."
Pope Francis reiterated the Synod's rejection of the asserted equality between homosexual unions and marriage of a man and a woman. He cited the synod's comment that there are "absolutely no grounds" for considering these unions to be similar to "God's plan for marriage and family."
The synod also rejected pressure on churches on the issue of same-sex unions and financial pressure placed on poor countries to establish same-sex "marriage."