Day for Life

Scottish Day for Life - 31 May 2008
English and Welsh Day for Life - 6 July 2008
Irish Day for Life - 5 October 2008

Day for Life – the day in the Church’s year dedicated to celebrating the sacredness of life – will focus this year on the theme of mental health. It will help raise awareness of the needs of those affected by mental ill-health, their friends, their family and their carers, and the support that the parish community can bring.

Speaking at a recent international congress entitled: ‘Oil on the wounds. A response to the blight of abortion and divorce,’ the Holy Father said that the "’noes' pronounced by the Church in her moral guidelines, and upon which public opinion sometimes unilaterally fixes its attention, are in fact so many 'yeses' to the dignity of human beings, their lives and their capacity to love".

"The Church's ethical judgement concerning abortion and divorce is clear and well-known to everyone: they are grave sins which - in various ways and with due evaluation of subjective responsibilities - injure the dignity of the human person, involve a profound injustice in human and social relationships, and offend God Himself, the guarantor of the marital bond and the architect of life".

Nonetheless, "the Church, following the example of her divine Master, always has to deal with real people, especially the weakest and most innocent, ... as well as other men and women who, having perpetrated those acts, are stained with sin and bear its interior wounds while seeking peace and the possibility of rehabilitation.

Vatican praises the three Conferences of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales for choosing mental health as the theme for Day for Life 2008

Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, sends the following message of encouragement to the organisers and to all involved in the celebration of the Day for Life, 2008, dedicated to the theme of Mental Health.

“The Pontifical Academy for Life welcomes the theme chosen by the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales for Day for Life this year.

Mental health problems touch the lives of so many people – those who suffer need our understanding and our acceptance. Day for Life 2008 will help raise awareness of the needs of those affected, their friends, family and carers and offer the support that the parish community can bring.”

President of the Pontifical Academy for Life meets Bishop for Day for Life in England and Wales

The Right Reverend Bernard Longley, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Bishop for Day for Life in England and Wales, together with the General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Andrew Summersgill met with the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Sgreccia in Rome on Monday 21 January 2008. The Secretary and Co-ordinator to the Academy, Monsignor Calipari and Fr George Woodall were also present at the meeting.

Archbishop Sgreccia praised the collaborative working between the Conferences of Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales on Day for Life each year. He said that the materials prepared jointly by all three Conferences, helped raise awareness and inform the lay faithful about the Church's teaching on life. He recognised the generosity of parishioners up and down the country who gave to Day for Life each year, so that pastoral initiatives associated with life could be supported.

The Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI, written in 1968, describes the great vision for marriage; a way of living which enables a man and a woman to give their lives to one another and in which their mutual self-giving is both life-enhancing and life-transmitting.

It is a prophetic letter because it speaks of the great dignity and mission of marriage in an age in which so many forces are directed against human love. These forces are directed at the very heart of human love in which is contained not only the mystery of the union of two persons, but also the mystery of the transmission of human life.

Humanae Vitae upholds married people before society as those who are uniquely invested with the mission of perfecting human love and bringing new life into the world. This mission does not belong to others, only to spouses. Paul VI calls on married people to embrace their mission as spouses and parents, and he calls on the Church to support them. He also calls on societies, governments and individuals to honour spouses in their special mission and not to place false lights in their path, or to try to imitate their mission. Indeed, he warms about the consequences which follow from attacking married love.

Paul VI gives us a wonderful and authentic understanding of the human person and of human love. When love is given and received in marriage, it becomes a true gift, enriching the person and humanity. We have great reason to celebrate this anniversary for we all depend upon the truth about married love.

Open Letter on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act from the Presidents of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland and England and Wales

Logos of Bishops' Conferences

The 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act is an important moment for reflection. It gives us all an opportunity to seek to cherish human life and to support women in difficult circumstances. The law affects attitudes, but it does not itself compel anyone to have an abortion. Even without a change in the law the abortion rate could fall dramatically if enough minds and hearts were changed.

The miraculous nature of human reproduction has become ever more apparent through recent advances in medical technology. In 1967 Ultrasound was a primitive tool. Ultrasound scanners today can reveal in extraordinary detail the development of a human life in the womb. Premature babies are now able to survive at ever younger ages. Developmental biology makes increasingly clear the beautiful and intricate processes of continuous development and growth of the single unique organism which is formed at conception. That is when our lives started. From that point on, there is a new human life which is neither the life of the father nor the mother. In 2007 we understand better than ever before, because we have seen it with our own eyes, the wonderful process of life that is brought to an end by abortion.

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Day for Life England & Wales Bishop presents final round of awards to support groups helping people with disabilities and learning difficulties

The Right Reverend Bernard Longley, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, welcomed disability groups to a Day for Life cheque presentation at Archbishop’s House on Friday 12 October 2007.

Last year’s Day for Life – the day in the Church’s year dedicated to raising awareness of the value of life from conception to natural death - celebrated the life and contribution of disabled people in the Church and in society today. A number of disability groups and organisations in England and Wales received funding from the Day for Life collection.

DAY FOR LIFE 2007: IRELAND
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of CURA
Bishop John Fleming - Podcast

2007 is a year for anniversaries for those who promote what Pope John Paul II called "a culture of life and a civilisation of love". In England and Wales the Catholic Bishops have reflected on the effect which the introduction of abortion has had on society during the past forty years. In Scotland, the Scottish bishops have marked the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative and in Ireland we are celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of CURA by the Irish bishops.

Thirty years is roughly the span of time between one generation and the next. In the past, thirty years saw changes take place in a measured way which ensured that the values, experiences and beliefs of one generation were passed on to the next without too much difficulty or change. The past thirty years have been different. The rate of change seen in the span of a generation in the past is now measured in a decade at most.

Fr Richard Aladics from the Community of Grace www.communityofgrace.org.uk has recently summarised this beautiful work.

‘Love is demanding. Real love means loving to the end. This is the meaning of spousal love - loving to the end. For two people to give themselves to each other in marriage means that the have been redeemed – that they have received the gift of love from Christ – that they have been redeemed by the most sincere gift of all – the blood of Christ. This is why the Eucharist is the crowning of the marriage rite. This redemption is expressed in the consent of the spouses – “being a sincere gift” is now a part of their lives. “Being a sincere gift” requires the outpouring of the Holy Spirit not just on the wedding day, but throughout married life.’

Saturday 27th October 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the passing of the 1967 Abortion Act.
time for change brings together churches, professional bodies and pro-life organisations to mark this anniversary.

There will be a vigil in Old Palace Yard outside Parliament on Saturday 27th October followed by a march and a service of remembrance, repentance and healing at Westminster Cathedral.

Main Events planned for Saturday 27th October:
2pm - Vigil in Parliament Square
3pm - March down Victoria Street
4pm - Service at Westminster Cathedral
5pm - Close

www.timeforchange.org.uk

"Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness and in your providence watched over my spirit." (Job 10: 8-12)

"You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother’s womb. For so many marvels I thank you: a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through, my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the depths of the earth. Your eyes could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there." (Ps 139:1, 13-16)

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly reflects on Day for Life this year

Photo of the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly

‘A human being with potential’: this begins to describe us from our conception in our Mother’s womb. It is not accurate to say: ‘a potential human being’. Similarly, it is not scientific to rely on size when assessing any being. Big and small are relative terms. Our world is wondrously small in the universe; and for all we know to brilliant eyes, we are wondrously complex and brim full of potential from the first moment of our existence.

Since abortion became legal in this country, besides the advance in pre-natal and post-natal care, every advance in knowledge brought to my attention shows however early we go in our story within the womb it was me and never it. A National Health poster, trying to discourage smoking during pregnancy, showed a tiny baby on life support with the accurate caption: ‘For nine months he’s been on cigarettes; now he’s on a pipe.’ The life of a Mother to be is inseparably one with another life. So when there is an unwanted pregnancy and let it be said: that means when a baby becomes not wanted, we need those who feel for Mother and child as one. The Mother needs to feel she is heard by someone entering fully into her story written now by the other life now inseparably woven into hers. She cannot hear anyone who sounds as if they have compassion only for her baby: that is to fail to understand who she now is. We owe so much for the compassion found for example, in Alpha counselling and among so many others. To be consistently pro-life breaks hearts.

Magazines in different languages at Life Care centre

London Life Co-ordinator, Clair Rees opens the doors to our cameras to introduce us to the work of Life - one of the principal recipients of the Day for Life collection this year.

Life is a national pro-life charity which aims to provide an alternative to abortion. Some of those alternatives are housing and caring; education programmes, a natural fertility programme, a helpline service and a text-to-talk service.

LIFE has becoming increasingly aware of the particular pressures placed on young women working in the City of London faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Many feel that they have no other choice but to terminate that pregnancy. Whilst starting salaries in the City are above the national average, they are not sufficient to meet the combined cost of housing and childcare. Hear more about Life’s plans to help women working in the City.

Photos of faces - people looking concerned or worried

The proceeds from the Day for Life collection taken in England and Wales on 1st July 2007 will principally go towards the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics and the work of Life – an organisation which provides a nationwide care service for pregnant women, unsupported mothers, women with problems relating to pregnancy, fertility or infertility, or suffering from the effects of abortion.

For more than thirty years, Life has been one of the busiest and most high profile charities in the UK. At the heart of its mission is a conviction that opposition to abortion and the misuse and destruction of human embryos is not enough on its own.

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