“Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “throw away” culture which is now spreading”. H. Paus Johannes Paulus II, Encycliek, Over de waarde en de onaantastbaarheid van het menselijk leven, Evangelium Vitae (25 mrt 1995), 53 “In this regard, the task of the family, supported by everyone in society, is to welcome an unborn human life and take care of human life in its final stage”. Bisschoppensynodes, De roeping en de missie van het gezin in de Kerk en de moderne wereld, Instrumentum Laboris voor de 14e Gewone Bisschoppensynode (2015) (23 juni 2015), 140

Regarding the drama of abortion the Church reaffirms the inviolable character of human life. She offers advice to pregnant women, sustains teen mothers, assists abandoned children and is a companion for those who have suffered abortion and become conscious of their mistake. Equally the Church reaffirms the right to natural death, at the same time avoiding both aggressive treatment and euthanasia. Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, De roeping en de missie van het gezin in de Kerk en de moderne wereld, Instrumentum Laboris voor de 14e Gewone Bisschoppensynode (2015) (23 juni 2015), 141 Death, in reality, is not a private and individual fact. The human person is not and should not feel isolated in the moment of suffering and death. In the world today, when families have become small and at times isolated and broken or headed by a single parent, their ability to care for their for their members has diminished, including the elderly, disabled and dying. Besides the great public social systems, often of the state, they (families) have great difficulties working, also due to the aging of society and the advancement of an exclusive market logic that considers social expenditures as factors which diminish competitiveness. In this context the Church is confronting a double challenge. On one part through her institutions and voluntary services seeking to make up for the deficiencies of the state welfare system and on the other hand the inability of families seeking to strengthen the human side of that service, offering more material aid, as well as human and spiritual support. Values which cannot be quantified with money.