Prayers are to be offered in the cathedrals of
Catholic diocese across the State this weekend in response to the Dáil’s
passing of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill on Thursday
night. However, the Catholic bishops do not intend commenting on the vote until the Bill has been dealt with in the Seanad, a spokesman said last night.
Meanwhile, the bishops have again
circulated every parish with another of their weekly leaflets opposing
the legislation. It will be read at Masses and distributed in churches
over the weekend.
It points out that “in recent
days bishops have sent a briefing note to deputies and senators on the
‘Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013’.”
The note “highlights flaws in the abortion
bill and explains that it: will fundamentally alter the culture and
practice of medical care in Ireland;
accepts the premise that abortion is an appropriate response to
suicidal ideation; and, creates serious moral, legal and constitutional
conflicts in the area of freedom of conscience and religious belief,”
they say.
The leaflet also quotes at length from a sermon by papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown
in Drogheda last Sunday.
There he said: “If we abandon the principle
which teaches that innocent human life is inviolable, which is to say,
that is it is sacred and must be protected by law, if we relinquish that
principle, and begin to allow for the deliberate and direct destruction
of human life, what basis will we have to object when the situation
shifts further and other categories of vulnerable human beings are under
threat?”
He continued: “We will have none or
very little, because we will have sacrificed the foundation, the basis,
the principle: every human life is to be respected, because it is of
inestimable value. This recognition is at the origin of every human
society and community.”