The Pontiff made his remarks in an audience with the Science and Life Association, an Italian organization founded in 2005. Upholding “the sacredness of every human person, so that science may truly be at the service of man, and not man at the service of science,” Pope Francis said that “the degree of progress of a civilization is measured by its ability to protect life, especially in its most fragile stages, rather than by the diffusion of technological instruments.” “The scourge of abortion is an attack on life,” he added. “Leaving our brothers on the boats in the Sicilian channel is an attack on life … Death from malnutrition is an attack on life. Terrorism, war, violence, but also euthanasia, are attacks on life.”