The Gospel Of Life
Pope John Paul II met with Irish bishops for their ad limina visit on June 26. Along with other themes, he stressed the need to protect human life, and to help mothers facing difficult situations. His words follow:
New ideas and new energies are required to meet the needs of couples in difficulty, and in particular to reach out promptly and efficaciously to women facing pressures to reject the unborn life they bear. The new evangelization involves a strenuous defense of the right to life, the most basic of all human rights — more basic than any individual's, group's or government's “right to choose”. It calls for the faithful to be ever more aware of the Church's social teaching, ever more active in promoting truth and justice in public life and interpersonal relations. It demands practical solidarity with the weaker sectors of society and all those who are left at the margin of economic development (No. 5).
