Compassion for both the mother and the unborn child must be at the heart of crisis pregnancy counseling, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales have insisted.The message comes as part of this year’s Day for Life, a day dedicated by the Church to raising awareness about the meaning and value of human life at every stage and in every condition.
This year’s theme, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb”, will focus on the practical, emotional and spiritual care the Church gives to women and babies in need.
The annual celebration was initiated by the late Pope John Paul II, who in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), proposed that “a day for life be celebrated each year in every country”.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of CURA in Ireland, the 10th anniversary of the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative in Scotland, and the 30th anniversary of the Life Care and Hosing Trust in England and Wales.
Speaking on the importance of providing equal care to both mother and child, Bishop John Fleming, President of CURA said: “CURA makes a unique contribution to crisis pregnancy counseling today because it has an equal care for the woman who experiences her pregnancy as a crisis and for her unborn child who, at that particular moment, has brought this element of alarm into her life."
“It is that equal concern for the welfare of both the mother and her unborn child that distinguishes the particular contribution which CURA makes to crisis pregnancy counseling and which is of such importance for the common good of our society.”
Bishop Fleming called on all “men and women of goodwill” to continue to support the work of CURA in order to help promote what John Paul II so eloquently described as “a civilization of love” and a “culture of life”.
The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, has also highlighted the importance of balanced care in crisis pregnancy counseling.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Since 2005, the Irish Bishops have united with the Bishops of Scotland, and England and Wales, by jointly publishing a Day for Life Pastoral Letter with a common theme.
This year’s letter reminds the faithful that “The Catholic Church is a pro-life Church. For us, this is not an optional extra. It is at the heart of what we believe.”
More specifically, it states: “The Church is opposed to all direct attacks against innocent human life e.g. abortion, abortifacient pills and devices, the abortion pill and the morning after pill, destructive embryo and embryonic stem cell research, genetic engineering, euthanasia, etc. because it believes that every life has purpose, meaning and inherent value.”
The Day for Life 2007 is being celebrated in parishes throughout Ireland today, Sunday 7 October, in Scotland on Sunday 31 May and in England and Wales on Sunday 1 July.
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