During his just concluded visit to Cuba, Pope Francis strongly condemned abortion and encouraged Cubans to show more respect for human life.

While speaking to a group of young people in Havana, Pope Francis slammed today's "throwaway culture" that has little regard for the abandoned, the sick, and those whom society deems fit to "throw away."

He called on the people to defend the "smallest" and most vulnerable members of society, more particularly the unborn children, instead of supporting their death and suffering, according to the Life Site News.

"Children aren't loved, they're killed before being born," he lamented. "The elderly are thrown away, because they don't produce."

He warned parents on the consequences of using prenatal testing to screen for selective abortion, with some parents choosing to "return it (the baby) before it comes into the world."

Pope Francis reminded Cubans that people should actually be more sympathetic and caring towards these "throw away" members of society, since Jesus Christ Himself said: "Whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me."

Pope Francis also delivered an extemporaneous homily in The Cathedral of The Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Havana as he addressed the two concerns of what he called his "prophets"—Archbishop Jaime Ortega, cardinal of Havana, and a young religious sister, Yileny Ponce Torres.

Cardinal Ortega said even though the Catholic Church in Cuba is poor in resources, it is still rich in solidarity and fraternity. On the other hand, Sister Torres shared about her work with a government-run centre serving 200 patients with mental and physical trauma.

Pope Francis urged the clergy in attendance at Havana's cathedral to be "a poor church" and "never tire of showing mercy."

The Catholic pontiff headed straight to Washington, D.C. following his visit in Cuba, where he will address a joint session of the US Congress. He will also go to New York to speak before the United Nations General Assembly, and Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families.