www.prayforlife.ie “I hope the Pray for Life Novena will help people to celebrate and protect the gift of life and to be more conscious of the practical support that they can offer to women for whom pregnancy is experienced as a crisis.” - Bishop Kevin Doran The...
Press releases
Bishop Kevin Doran welcomes new Vatican document on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phase of life
Bishop Kevin Doran, Bishop of Elphin and Chair of the Council for Life of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference has welcomed the publication of “Samaritanus bonus” (The Good Shepherd), a newly published letter by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...
Response to the Consultation on ‘A New Legal Framework for Abortion Services in Northern Ireland’ from the Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland
Summary The Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland wish to make clear that the new abortion law established under the provisions of the Northern Ireland Act 2019, is an unjust law. As a consequence, no one is obliged in conscience to cooperate with any action permitted...
Message from the Bishops in Northern Ireland to voters ahead of the Westminster General Election
It is twenty years this month since the Stormont Assembly assumed the full powers devolved to it. The damaging consequences of the prolonged, ongoing failure to restore the institutions of the Agreement are becoming increasingly clear, especially their impact on the...
Statement by the Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland on the introduction of The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act
At midnight last night, 21 October, all explicit protection for the unborn child up to 28 weeks of pregnancy was removed in Northern Ireland, leading to potentially one of the most liberal and unregulated abortion regimes in the world. This is a tragic day for the...
Statement by Bishop Larry Duffy on the right to life and the responsibility of political representatives
At this critical moment in our history, it is vitally important that political leaders in Northern Ireland face up to their responsibility to protect life, especially the life of the most vulnerable, such as unborn babies in the womb and their mothers. I appeal to...
Bishops: ‘A time for prayer and action for unborn life’
Following the Autumn General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference which was held this week in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, the following statement is being published by the Bishops of Ireland ahead of the annual ‘Day for Life’ which takes place in...
Abortion cannot be supported – Statement of the Winter 2018 General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Reflecting on the current Dáil debate on the abortion bill bishops said, “We are dismayed that, for the most part, the voices of those who voted against abortion in May’s referendum have been ignored. Even what many people would have deemed to have be very reasonable...
Homily of Archbishop Eamon Martin for #RedWednesday 2018
We should not be afraid to hold and teach our sincerely held Christian convictions about, for example, the dignity of the person and the sacredness of all human life from the first moment of conception. In post-referendum Ireland, it remains as important as ever to...