The Republic of San Marino voted Sunday to legalize abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The referendum vote on Sept. 26 ended the country’s ban on abortion, which had been in place since 1865.
More than 77% of voters approved the motion to allow abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as after the 12-week mark if there are “are anomalies and malformations of the fetus that involve a serious risk for the physical or psychological health of the woman.”
San Marino is a republic with a population of 35,000 people — a third of which live outside of its borders. The tiny nation’s birth rate is about 1.2 children per woman.
The bishop of San Marino released a statement on Sept. 26 saying that pregnant women must be supported so that “no stone is left unturned in seeking alternatives” to abortion.
“We must ensure that never again does a life not blossom because of insecurity, distrust, loneliness, lack of custody and protection or for economic reasons,” Bishop Andrea Turazzi said.
“Today, with the progress of science, with the means at our disposal, with the growth of social consciousness, we can do so much to welcome unborn life,” the bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro said.
“The growth rate of a society, we believe, is not measured so much by economics, but by respect for the rights of all, starting with the fragile, defenseless and unborn.”
According to tradition, a Christian named Marinus established a Christian community in the fourth century that eventually became the city-state of San Marino.
Italy, which geographically surrounds San Marino, legalized abortion in 1978. Other majority Catholic countries, notably Ireland, have liberalized their abortion laws in recent years by referendum.
The people of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, voted in a referendum in June to approve a bill legalizing abortion.
Following the vote, Bishop Turazzi said that the diocese of San Marino would commit itself to “witness to the Gospel of life, for a culture and a policy favorable to the family, for a boost of awareness and responsibility.”
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 13, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday announced the approval of the first nonprescription oral contraceptive, called “Opill.” The drug’s a… […]
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).
Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries.
“Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God’s love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid,” the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark’s Square.
Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: “Remaining united to Christ, we can bring the fruits of the Gospel into the reality we inhabit.”
Pope Francis delivers his homily during Mass in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, on April 28, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
“Fruits of justice and peace, fruits of solidarity and mutual care, carefully-made choices to preserve our environmental and human heritage,” the pope continued, seated center stage in a red velvet chair and vested in a white cope.
Pope Francis arrived in Venice early Sunday morning for a day trip to the prestigious Biennale art exhibition — which is celebrating its 60th anniversary — where the Holy See’s pavilion, titled “With My Eyes,” dovetails with this year’s broader theme: “Foreigners Everywhere.”
The pope’s visit also holds a deep meaning as Francis is the first pontiff to visit the Biennale — where the Vatican has held a pavilion since 2013.
In his homily, Pope Francis pointed out that our relationship with Christ is not “static” but an invitation to “grow in relationship with him, to converse with him, to embrace his word, to follow him on the path of the kingdom of God.”
Francis built upon this point to encourage “Christian communities, neighborhoods, and cities to become welcoming, inclusive, and hospitable places,” a point he linked to the image of the city of Venice as a “a place of encounter and cultural exchange.”
Pope Francis greets youth gathered in St. Mark’s Square during his visit to Venice, Italy, on April 28, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Pope Francis observed that Venice “is called to be a sign of beauty available to all, starting with the last, a sign of fraternity and care for our common home,” the pope continued, highlighting the tenuous situation of Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which faces a myriad of problems ranging from excessive tourism to environmental challenges such as rising sea levels and erosion.
After the recitation of the Regina Caeli, the pope entered St. Mark’s Basilica to venerate the relics of the evangelist before leaving by helicopter to return to the Vatican as pilgrims and tourists bid farewell from land and sea.
Earlier in the morning the Holy Father met with female inmates, staff, and volunteers at Venice’s Women’s Prison on the Island of Giudecca, where he spoke on the topic of human dignity, suggesting that prison can “mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others.“
The deeply symbolic visit was followed by a brief encounter with the artists responsible for the Holy See’s pavilion at the Biennale, where the pope encouraged artists to use their craft “to rid the world of the senseless and by now empty oppositions that seek to gain ground in racism, in xenophobia, in inequality, in ecological imbalance and aporophobia, that terrible neologism that means ‘fear of the poor.’”
The Holy Father traveled by a private vaporetto, or waterbus, bearing the two-tone flag of Vatican City, to the 16th-century baroque Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, which sits on the Punta della Dogana, where he met with a large group of young people.
Reflecting on the visit as a “beautiful moment of encounter,” the pope encouraged the youth to “rise from sadness to lift our gaze upward.”
“Rise to stand in front of life, not to sit on the couch. Arise to say, ‘Here I am!’ to the Lord, who believes in us.” Building on this message of hope, which the pope emphasized is built upon perseverance, telling them “don’t isolate yourself” but “seek others, experience God together, find a group to walk with so you don’t grow tired.”
Pope Francis arrives outside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, on April 28, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The pope made his way to St. Mark’s Square in a white open-top golf cart bearing the papal seal, where he closed his visit with Mass. At the end of the Mass Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, the patriarch of Venice, thanked the pope for his visit.
“Venice is a stupendous, fragile, unique city and has always been a bridge between East and West, a crossroads of peoples, cultures, and different faiths,” Moraglia noted.
“For this reason, in Venice, the great themes of your encyclicals — Fratelli Tutti and Laudato Si’ — are promptly reflected in respect and care for creation and the person, starting with the good summit of life that must always be respected and loved, especially when it is fragile and asks to be welcomed.”
Jennie Bradley Lichter is set to become the new president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. / Credit: Photo courtesy of March for Life Education and Defense Fund
CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
The March for Life annou… […]
2 Comments
From the largest nations, territorially Russia “Abortion in Russia is legal as an elective procedure up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and in special circumstances at later stages. Russia had the highest number of abortions per woman of child-bearing age in the world according to UN data as of 2010”, China population we all know it enforces abortion. Now to the tiniest San Marino. A mother’s womb once the safest place for a developing infant now ironically the most dangerous. What has changed Mankind? Obviously, the drift from Christ. Although it existed prior to the Incarnation never on this monumental scale. What that spells for the mind to ruminate is the horror of such unmitigated evil far greater after rejection of Christ than before? A differentiating factor that cannot be explained in context of cultural space within historical time. Something mysterious for practical reason. Although not when contemplated within revelation. The reality of a Daemonic creature, Satan, who possesses the morbid energy to seduce minds to believing it’s practical medical care. That Catholics by profession claim a just necessity for better living conditions, as if pregnancy were a disease. Surely it proves a superior intellect has seduced the human mind to believe the life of persons is relative to the welfare of our own.
This is a sad day for humanity, that infanticide, the killing of the weakest and most vulnerable, is not only tolerated, but welcomed with applause and voted on by the populace with overwhelming approval.
From the largest nations, territorially Russia “Abortion in Russia is legal as an elective procedure up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and in special circumstances at later stages. Russia had the highest number of abortions per woman of child-bearing age in the world according to UN data as of 2010”, China population we all know it enforces abortion. Now to the tiniest San Marino. A mother’s womb once the safest place for a developing infant now ironically the most dangerous. What has changed Mankind? Obviously, the drift from Christ. Although it existed prior to the Incarnation never on this monumental scale. What that spells for the mind to ruminate is the horror of such unmitigated evil far greater after rejection of Christ than before? A differentiating factor that cannot be explained in context of cultural space within historical time. Something mysterious for practical reason. Although not when contemplated within revelation. The reality of a Daemonic creature, Satan, who possesses the morbid energy to seduce minds to believing it’s practical medical care. That Catholics by profession claim a just necessity for better living conditions, as if pregnancy were a disease. Surely it proves a superior intellect has seduced the human mind to believe the life of persons is relative to the welfare of our own.
This is a sad day for humanity, that infanticide, the killing of the weakest and most vulnerable, is not only tolerated, but welcomed with applause and voted on by the populace with overwhelming approval.