John Paul II reminded the faithful that a lawmaker who considers himself a Catholic cannot support laws that are against life or marriage.
"I think it is opportune to recall that the lawmaker, and the Catholic lawmaker in particular, cannot contribute to formulate or approve laws contrary to the first and essential norms that regulate moral life," the Pope said when receiving Carlos Luis Custer, Argentina's new ambassador to the Holy See.
These principles, the Holy Father indicated, are "expression of the highest values of the human person and proceed, ultimately, from God, supreme lawmaker."
John Paul II called for respect for the "value of human life itself," from the moment of conception. "No one can claim for himself the power of violating" the right to life, he said.
The "other pillar of society" that every lawmaker must defend "is marriage, union of a man and a woman, open to life, which gives place to the natural institution of the family," the Pope added.