Ruadhán Jones
A pro-life poster is seen in front of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Photo: CNS We cannot be indifferent to “the cries of… the unborn who may be denied life”, said Bishop Brendan Leahy, adding that an Ireland “worth working for” is one where all life matters.
The bishop’s statement came on the third anniversary of the referendum that removed protections for the unborn in Ireland, May 25.
Bishop Leahy called for “courage and resilience” as we mark this event.
“While, as the democracy maxim states, the people have spoken,” Bishop Leahy continued, “that does not mean other voices are to remain silent; that those who believe in the sanctity of the life of the unborn should go quiet.
“Life matters. An Ireland worth working for, an Ireland worth dreaming about, an Ireland worth presenting to the world will always be a country where life matters and where we care for one another.”
We need to care “when we hear that in the year following the referendum 6,666 lives were ended in the womb through abortion”, the bishop of Limerick said.
“We cannot be indifferent to the cries of the off-the-radar homeless, the bewildered addicts, the unborn who may be denied life, the vulnerable elderly.”
Meanwhile, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the “harshness of the new regime that makes it legal for the State to end the life of one individual living human being, never mind 6,666 lives, is hard to fathom”.
“Human rights campaigners such as ourselves claimed that Ireland would follow the same path as every other country that legalised abortion and see a massive spike in the number of terminations of life. This has now sadly come to pass,” Mr Tóibín said.
The Pro-life Campaign (PLC) and the Life Institute held rallies to mark the anniversary, with the PLC calling the legalisation of abortion “an absolute betrayal of women”.