(LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, has called upon the international community to halt “eugenic practices” targeting babies diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Speaking at an event at a Jérôme Lejeune Foundation-sponsored event for World Down Syndrome Day 2026, Balestrero warned, “Discriminatory and eugenic practices linked to prenatal screening and the selective termination of pregnancies targeting babies diagnosed with Down syndrome must be firmly rejected.”
“Every person, regardless of genetic characteristics, is worthy of life,” he declared.
“Persons with Down syndrome are more than a diagnosis, more than a condition, and certainly more than the limits others may imagine,” said the apostolic nuncio. “All of them, like all of us, possess the same inherent dignity and sacred value, intentionally and lovingly imprinted by the Creator from the very first moment of conception. Consequently, like everyone else, they hold the same fundamental rights.”
“Their genetic identity does not render them ‘more or less human.’ Persons with Down syndrome must fully enjoy their human rights and participate meaningfully in every aspect of society: education, work, religion, culture, health care, social life, civic engagement, and every opportunity to develop and flourish authentically,” explained the archbishop. “Inclusion, therefore, is not merely a matter of providing services or accommodations. It is about recognizing persons with Down syndrome as full members of our communities.”
Addressing the healthcare industry, Balestrero said, “A system of care and support may be operationally perfect, but if it is heartless, it becomes cold and impersonal. The heart, too, must be formed.”
“As Pope Leo XIV reminds us: ‘The quality of human life is not dependent on achievements. The quality of our lives is dependent on love,’” said Balestrero. “The value of a person’s life should not be measured by utility or performance, but by the simple and profound fact of being human – cared for and loved by others.”
