Mothers and babies should be focus of referendum – Limerick bishop

Ahead of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment, Limerick’s Bishop Brendan Leahy has penned a letter to his diocese promoting respect for human life.

In his letter, which was read at all of the Masses in the Diocese of Limerick over the weekend of February 3-4, Bishop Leahy acknowledged the difficult task in speaking about the upcoming referendum.

“While I too find it difficult to talk about it, nevertheless the Gospel and my conscience convince me that I am obliged to speak,” Dr Leahy said.

The Irish government announced on January 29 that a referendum will be held to decide the fate of the constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which classifies abortion as a criminal act. Repeal of the amendment would be followed by the introduction of legislation permitting abortion throughout the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and afterwards under certain circumstances, and would leave any further loosening of abortion conditions in the hands of the Oireachtas.

The vote is set for late May or early June.

The bishop also asked the faithful to not become distracted by the politics and discussions surrounding the amendment and legislation, saying the top priority should instead be the mothers and their babies.

“It is right to attend with empathy and care to the difficult situations of women faced with challenging circumstances around pregnancy,” he said.

“We do indeed need to love both mother and baby in pregnancy, but I believe that in our public commentary at the moment we are often forgetting the unborn baby,” Dr Leahy continued, saying “make no mistake about it. It is a baby”.

Dr Leahy continued to encourage the faithful in the Diocese of Limerick to champion the cause of life within Ireland and pray for overall respect of human life.

“It really is important for us to affirm that what’s in the womb are babies that are just not born yet. They are not potential persons but persons with potentials; they are developing humans,” he said.