Message from Leo XIV
Of Giovanni Zavatta
Coinciding with Father’s Day which in the Anglo-Saxon world occurs on the third Sunday of June, the Episcopal Conferences of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland will tomorrow celebrate the Day for Life dedicated this year to the theme The wonder of the child in the womb (The wonder of the child in the womb). In the joint message – signed by the Archbishop of Liverpool, John Francis Sherrington, the Bishop of Paisley, John Keenan, and the Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Peter Doran – the episcopates invite us to reflect on the wonder of human life from the moment of conception and observe “how the Lord Jesus Christ himself sanctified and experienced the beginning of life in the world as an unborn child, hidden in the womb of Mary”.
To the episcopates promoting the Day for life Pope Leo XIV sent a message who, quoting the encyclical Magnificent humanityrecalls that from the moment of conception every human being is endowed with infinite dignity “simply for the fact of existing, of having been willed, created and loved by God” (n. 52). This divine love “fills the life of every person with meaning and, far from ending with death, invites us to a new fullness in eternity”. In the text, signed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, the Pontiff prays “so that all parents who mourn the loss of a child, especially a newborn, find comfort and peace in the awareness of God’s love”, with the hope that they will have “the support they need in the ecclesial community and above all in a life nourished by prayer and the sacraments”.
The bishops of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland also express solidarity in their message with mothers and fathers who have lost a child before birth or during childhood: «The Church wishes to be particularly close to parents who have suffered the loss of a young child. We seek to offer spiritual support through the pastoral care and blessing of our priests, and through the comfort of the liturgy.” And “we are committed to working so that our society is able to appreciate the value of every little one, especially those in the very early stages of human life”, they conclude.
