Pope urges people to give 'gift of life' and donate blood

Published: 2004-06-14

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II urged people worldwide to give "a gift of life" and donate blood. At the end of his Angelus prayer June 13, the pope said blood donors perform an act of "great moral and civic value." "Donating one's own blood voluntarily and without compensation is a gesture of great moral and civic value," he said. "It's a gift for life." "May blood donors, to whom all are grateful, increase in every part of the world," he said. The pope made special mention that June 14 marked World Blood Donor Day -- an event organized in part by the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and world blood donor organizations.

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