Pope’s comments on surrogacy land ‘like a ton of bricks’ after allowing same-sex blessings

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnVATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis’ recent condemnation of surrogacy, which equated the practice with human trafficking, is nothing new in the Catholic Church, but, after he opened the door to same-sex blessings, it felt like a step backward to many in the LGBTQ community and others who look to surrogacy as a path toward building a family.“I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs,” Pope Francis told ambassadors from all over the world in a long speech at the Vatican at the start of the year.
The pope called for a global ban on surrogacy, which he said turns the child and the mother into “an object of trafficking.” The pope also railed against abortion, in-vitro fertilization and gender ideology in his speech to diplomats.
While many in the Catholic Church share the same views, members of the LGBTQ community and surrogacy advocates were taken aback by the pope’s strong words.
“Like pope Francis I don’t want women to be exploited,” said Brandon Ambrosino, a theologian and ethicist at Villanova University, in an interview with Religion News Service. “But I also know, from personal experience, that it’s possible to pursue third-party reproduction in non-exploitative ways.”
Brandon Ambrosino. (Photo via Vil …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]