Max Rossi/Reuters
Pope Francis has blasted the practice of terminating pregnancies in cases of fetal defects and compared abortion to “what the Nazis did to ensure the purity of the race.” Speaking to an Italian family association on Saturday, the pontiff offered uncharacteristically harsh remarks on the state of today’s families. “Children should be welcomed the way they come, the way God sends them to us, the way God allows, even if sometimes they are ill. I’ve heard that it’s fashionable—or at least habitual—to perform certain exams in the early months of pregnancy, to see if the baby is unwell or comes with a certain problem,” he said. “And to have an easy life, one does away with an innocent,” he said. He went on to slam the widely accepted concept of nontraditional families, insisting that “only one” kind of family should be accepted: that between “man and woman.” His comments were in keeping with traditional Catholic ideas but came as a surprise to some in light of his more tolerant approach to gay people.