Derry’s Diocesan Administrator Monsignor Eamon Martin is asking
priests and people across the diocese to highlight the “sacredness of
human life” over the next five weeks.
Monsignor Martin has announced that the annual
‘Choose Life!’ Day for Life in Ireland - which takes place this Sunday,
October 7 - will mark the beginning of a special month of prayer and
awareness in the Derry diocese.
Monsignor Martin has expressed concern about what he describes as the “widespread misinformation” surrounding the implications of the December 2010 judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the “A, B & C vs Ireland” case.
He said: “The government is under no obligation to legislate for abortion because of the ruling of the European Court. On the contrary, government is free to respond by seeking full protection in Irish law for the right to life of the baby in the womb. The Catholic Church has a moral obligation to protect human life and to support the vulnerable. I urge everyone to pray the special prayer and pastoral message which we have published and to view the insightful and brave personal video testimonies available on our new website www.chooselife2012.ie.”
Monsignor Martin says the ‘Choose Life!’ message highlights the equal right to life of a mother and the child in her womb and the right of each to be treated as individual persons.
“Our positive message affirms that the child in the womb is not a potential life but a human life with potential. The Church’s ‘Choose Life!’ campaign will actively be promoted using social media: YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.”
The pages can be located on Choose Life 2012 on Facebook, and @Chooselife2012 on Twitter.
The dedicated website www.chooselife2012.ie will go live on Saturday, October 6 to coincide with the Day for Life.
The website will include a short YouTube video specially commissioned by the Bishops’ Conference on the theme Choose Life! which includes the stories of women who have faced difficult decisions in pregnancy.
Parishes throughout the Diocese of Derry, and individuals, are invited to pray a special ‘Prayer for the Child in the Womb’ during Masses throughout the month of prayer which ends on the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland on November 6.
Mgr. Martin added: “The prayer asks us to open our hearts to welcome every child as a unique and wonderful gift and to help those who make our laws to uphold the uniqueness and sacredness of every human life from the moment of conception to natural death.”
Monsignor Martin has expressed concern about what he describes as the “widespread misinformation” surrounding the implications of the December 2010 judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the “A, B & C vs Ireland” case.
He said: “The government is under no obligation to legislate for abortion because of the ruling of the European Court. On the contrary, government is free to respond by seeking full protection in Irish law for the right to life of the baby in the womb. The Catholic Church has a moral obligation to protect human life and to support the vulnerable. I urge everyone to pray the special prayer and pastoral message which we have published and to view the insightful and brave personal video testimonies available on our new website www.chooselife2012.ie.”
Monsignor Martin says the ‘Choose Life!’ message highlights the equal right to life of a mother and the child in her womb and the right of each to be treated as individual persons.
“Our positive message affirms that the child in the womb is not a potential life but a human life with potential. The Church’s ‘Choose Life!’ campaign will actively be promoted using social media: YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.”
The pages can be located on Choose Life 2012 on Facebook, and @Chooselife2012 on Twitter.
The dedicated website www.chooselife2012.ie will go live on Saturday, October 6 to coincide with the Day for Life.
The website will include a short YouTube video specially commissioned by the Bishops’ Conference on the theme Choose Life! which includes the stories of women who have faced difficult decisions in pregnancy.
Parishes throughout the Diocese of Derry, and individuals, are invited to pray a special ‘Prayer for the Child in the Womb’ during Masses throughout the month of prayer which ends on the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland on November 6.
Mgr. Martin added: “The prayer asks us to open our hearts to welcome every child as a unique and wonderful gift and to help those who make our laws to uphold the uniqueness and sacredness of every human life from the moment of conception to natural death.”