Pope Francis urges Catholic jurists to ‘protect the rights of the weakest’

Pope Francis urged Catholic jurists on Friday to safeguard the rights of society’s most vulnerable members.

Speaking to representatives of the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists on Dec. 10, the pope said that defending the weak was an urgent task.

“Never as in these days, as in these times, have Catholic jurists been called to affirm and protect the rights of the weakest, within an economic and social system that pretends to include diversity but, in reality, systematically excludes those without a voice,” he said.

“The rights of workers, migrants, the sick, unborn children, those at the end of their life, and the poorest are ever more frequently neglected and or denied in this throwaway culture. Those who do not have the capacity to spend and to consume seem to be worth nothing.”

“But to deny fundamental rights, to deny the right to a dignified life, to physical, psychological, and spiritual care, to a fair wage, is to deny human dignity.”

The Union of Italian Catholic Jurists brings together experts on the law who are seeking to live out Christian ethical principles in the legal world.

Members were in Rome for the union’s national conference on Dec. 9-11.

In his address, the pope recalled his Dec. 5 visit to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, where he said that “respect for individuals and for human rights, especially on this continent, which is constantly promoting them worldwide, should always be upheld, and the dignity of each person ought to come before all else.”

“And yet, how far we are from this respect,” the pope told the jurists. “Abuse, violence, negligence, omissions only increase the culture of rejection. And those who have no protection will always be marginalized.”

“You, as Catholic lawyers, are asked to contribute to ‘reversing the course,’ promoting, according to your skills, awareness, and a sense of responsibility. Because even the last, the defenseless, and the weak have rights that must be respected and not trampled upon. And this is an intrinsic call to our faith. This is not a passing ‘moralization’: it is an intrinsic call to our faith.”

The pope said that when rights are not recognized and guaranteed, the “law of the strongest” prevails.