Pilgrims attending this year’s National Pilgrimage for Life in Knock were urged to “promote a culture of life”. The call came from the Bishop of Kilmore, Martin Hayes, who led the pilgrimage. The event took place last weekend and was attended by thousands.
The bishop said that “as a people of life and for life”, “we are called to take account of all of life created by God.”
The bishop told pilgrims: “Our calling then… is to promote a culture of life, which includes, constantly advocating for the right to life of the unborn, to do our best to limit the impact of current abortion legislation,” and also to “ensure that information on options to give birth are available to pregnant mothers and that parents have practical support.”
Bishop Hayes also spoke about euthanasia, saying “we must value the frail and elderly, oppose the introduction of measures to legalise euthanasia, urge support for those suffering with terminal illness and support the staff in medical facilities with conscientious objections to assisted dying measures or abortion procedures.”
“Fundamental to the crisis that we find ourselves is a lack of recognition of God as our Creator of life, human and natural,” he said. “It is evident in our society which no longer acknowledges the place of natural law,” particularly regarding the right to life.
Bishop Hayes said that “we must question the values of such democracies which uphold contradictory values regarding the dignity of the human person that arise from their lack of connection to the objective moral grounding of the natural law.”
“Any law contrary to natural law is an act of violence and a corruption of the law according to St Thomas Aquinas. It means that we have an obligation to oppose such laws, and we must try to limit their application,” Bishop Hayes said.
“That is our purpose here this afternoon,” he concluded, “to pray that life be respected, cherished and protected from the moment of conception to its natural end.”
