Pope Francis condemned violence against women during his New Year’s Day address at the Vatican.

Pope Francis: “Women are sources of life. Yet they are continually offended, beaten, raped, induced to prostitute themselves and to suppress the life they carry in their womb. All violence inflicted on women is a desecration of God, born of a woman.”

On Wednesday, Pope Francis also apologized for slapping away the hand of a woman on New Year’s Eve, in a video that has since gone viral.