Another 1st for Papa Francesco

 When Papa Francesco was elected Pope last March, the liberal left mistook his simplicity for sympathy with their view that the Catholic Church has to change its unchangable doctrines. In the less than 2 months he has been in office, he has shown that just the opposite is true.
He may be the 1st Pope from the Americas, in particular, South America. He may also be the 1st Pope to take the name Francesco. But he is no supporter of liberation theology or any of the other of the errors promoted by the liberal left. Nor is he a tree hugging hippie like they have falsely painted San Francisco d'Assisi to be. Like his namesake, Papa Francesco is solidly on the side of wanting people to know & live the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church. He is calling people to conversion from sin & to Jesus Christ.

It soon came out after his election that while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires he took a strong stand against the push to redefine marriage to include homosexual unions. He called it a "machination by the father of lies." He recently called on the Bishops of Argentina to deny communion to pro-abortion politicians. He also made it clear that he supported the CDC efforts to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, something they hoped he would stop.
Another area that he has been a strong voice speaking out is that of abortion. While that is true of his predecessors, he took that voice to a place no Pope has gone before. He took part in the Marcia per la Vita (March for Life) Internazionale being held today in Rome.

Up to the time of his appearance, the 40,000 participants had no idea that he would take part. But it is clear this was planned in advance & the organizers were aware of his appearance. Crowd control barriers had been set up that allowed the popemobile to leave the Apostolic Palace, travel across St. Peter's Square & down the Via della Conciliazione to greet the participants.
Commenting on his appearance the March organizers said “The welcome of Pope Francis represents the highest recognition for the initiative and the confirmation of the sensitivity of the Pope to the non-negotiable principles, beginning with the right to life,”
The Pope also addressed the participants during his weekly Regina Caeli comments.
“I greet the participants of the March for Life which took place this morning in Rome and invite everyone to stay focused on the important issue of respect for human life, from the moment of conception.”  
Additionally, he praised the other Pro-life efforts in Italia as well as promoting the upcoming Evangelium Vitae events on 15-16 June.
Once again we are seeing Papa Francesco follow in the footsteps of his namesake. Just like San Francesco, he is working to rebuild the Church by proclaiming the Gospel truths. & like his namesake, that includes upholding the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church.

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This is the 3rd annual Marcia per la Vita Internazionale being held in Italia. The 1st March was held in Desenzano della Garda. The 2nd was held last year in Rome & had about 15000 participants. Papa Benedetto spoke to them at the Regina Caeli.

Sources: Stay focused on human life, Pope tells pro-life marchers
Pope surprises, delights 40,000 Italian pro-lifers, joins March for Life