A quote from Pope Francis:
“The biblical commandment to honor our parents reminds us in a broader sense of our duty to honor all elderly people. God links a dual promise to this commandment: ‘so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you.’ Obedience to this commandment ensures not only the gift of the land, but above all the possibility of making use of it. … The precept reveals to us the fundamental pedagogic relationship between parents and children, between the elderly and the young, with reference o the stewardship and transmission of religious teaching and wisdom to future generations. Honor this teaching, and those who transmit it are a source of life and blessing. On the contrary, he Bible severely admonishes those who neglect or mistreat their parents.”
“The Word of God is always living and we can see clearly how the commandment proves to be relevant to contemporary society, in which the logic of utility often takes precedence over that of solidarity and gratuitousness, even within families. ‘To honor’ may be translated as the duty to have extreme respect and take care of those who, on account of their physical or social condition, could be left — or made — to die. Medicine has a special role within society as testimony to the honor due to an elderly person and to every human being. Evidence and efficiency cannot be the only criteria governing the work of doctors, and nor can the rules of healthcare systems and economic profit. A State cannot expect to profit from medicine.”
— Audience with Pontifical Academy for Life, March 5, 2015
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