Sydney, Australia (LifeNews.com) -- At the welcoming ceremony for the opening of World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, the pope told tens of thousands of young people that they have a responsibility to protect human life. Pope Benedict XVI told cheering throngs of students and young adults that they need to stand up against abortion.

Addressing a crowd estimated at 150,000 people, the Catholic leader said that newfound enthusiasm for protecting the environment must be match by an equal vigor to protect human life.

"At the heart of the marvel of creation are you and I, the human family, 'crowned with glory and honor,'" he told the audience.

While safeguarding the environment is important, Pope Benedict said a clean environment means nothing if people are not alive to benefit from it.
"How can it be that the most wondrous and sacred human space -- the womb -- has become a place of unutterable violence" through abortion? he asked.

The pope said that if the youth of the world would stand up for the worth and dignity of human life, it would help produce a world with more peace and harmony.

"Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses and the pain of false promises," he said.

"Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth and where unity is found in respectful communion," the pope added.

The young people responded to the pro-life message with considerable enthusiasm and Pope Benedict appeared to relish this.
"World Youth Day fills me with confidence for the future of the church and the future of the world," he said.

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