Pope says society is 'civilised' if defends life

(ANSA) - Vatican City, January 30 - A society is civilised if it defends life, Pope Francis said Thursday.
    "A society deserves the description 'civilised' if it develops the antibodies to throwaway culture", he told participants of a plenary session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
    "And if it recognises the intangible value of human life, and if solidarity is substantively practised and safeguarded as a basis for living together".
    "Never abandon anyone in cases of incurable diseases," he added.
    The pope also said that sex abuse norms would be revised for more effective procedures to be put in place, and said that the Christian doctrine is not a rigid system, or an ideology.