On May 18, 1920, a young lady named Emilia lay in her apartment that was located on a tiny street in a small Polish town. Emilia was advised to have an abortion because of her failing health. But she refused.
On May 18, 1920, she gave birth to her second son, Karol Wojtyla. Many Catholics know this name well. To the world, he was known as Pope John Paul II. In 1929, Emilia succumbed to liver and heart failure. For nine years, she was the center of the household and raised her sons to value life. Her youngest son would go on to be one of the most vocal, pro-life popes in the history of the Catholic church. And this pope reached far beyond the Catholic church into every corner of the world. Today, he would have been 103 years old.
Over 100 years ago, the most pro-life pope was born. For over 100 years, his words still echo in the pro-life movement.
Here are some of Pope John Paul II’s most notable pro-life quotes:
- “Never tire of firmly speaking out in defense of life from its conception. Christ is with you: Be not afraid!”
- “As the family goes, so goes the nation and the whole world in which we live.”
- “Woe to you! Woe to you, America, if you do not defend life!”
- “I do not hesitate to proclaim before you and before the world that all human life – from the moment of conception and through all subsequent stages – is sacred, because human life is created in the likeness of God.”
- “This is the dignity of America, the reason she exists, the condition for her survival – yes, the ultimate test for her greatness: to respect every person, especially the weakest and most defenseless ones, those as yet unborn.”
- “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”
- “When some lives, including those of the unborn, are subjected to the personal choices of others, no other value or right will be long guaranteed.”
- “If you want equal justice for all, and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life!”
- “The greatest deception, and the deepest source of unhappiness, is the illusion of finding God, of finding freedom by excluding moral truths and personal responsibility.”
- “A society will be judged on how it treats its weakest members; and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying.”
May we live with the tenacity and vocal courage as Pope John Paul II did when he defended life. May we never tire of speaking out against the atrocity of abortion and euthanasia. Life is love and love wins.
