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The Irish Bishops’ Conference has condemned the lack of “crisis response” to or interest in the soaring number of abortions taking place in Ireland, quoting Pope Leo XIV who said last week that “the moral greatness of a nation” lies in looking after the most vulnerable.
In a statement agreed upon at the bishops’ summer conference last week, the bishops said that in a society that is “collapsing under the weight of research statistics,” there is no attempt to discover more about the motivations behind abortion decisions.
“Neither the State, nor the mainstream media, seem to have any interest in exploring what leads women to choose abortion or what happens to them afterwards,” the bishops’ statement reads.
The comments come as Sinn Féin prepares to bring forward a bill to scrap the three-day wait period before abortion in the Dáil on Tuesday evening.
However, critics of calls to remove the wait period have long argued that to do so would see abortion numbers rise further, highlighting that the pause offered women an opportunity to reflect on the decision and seek support.
Last month, a similar bill was brought forth by the Social Democrats.
That proposal was defeated by 85 votes to 30, with 36 abstentions.
The bishops in their statement described as “tragic” the fact that as society went to great lengths to protect life during the Covid pandemic, it also began “the wholesale destruction of human life through abortion”.
“While Covid-19 cost almost 10,000 lives in Ireland, there have been well over 50,000 deaths from abortion since 2019,” the bishops said, which they noted is the “equivalent to nearly 2,000 classrooms of children”.
“We need to ask ourselves: why has this not provoked anything like the same kind of crisis response in the form of solidarity or outreach?”
They suggested that one reason may be because “crisis pregnancy” takes place in private, and they expressed gratitude for the voluntary organisations in Ireland that support women in difficult situations.
“All of these things depend on the hard work of a relatively small number of people,” they said, encouraging the country’s Catholics “who believe in the dignity of every human life” to consider devoting time and energy, as well as financial support, to similar work.
The bishops also highlighted the work done by public representatives who affirm the right to life of the unborn, adding that “unfortunately, there [are] some who seem determined at all costs to widen the scope of the present law”.
They quoted Pope Leo XIV, who last week told the Spanish Parliament that the defence of life “is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization”.
“Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence. When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person.
“For this reason, the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile,” Pope Leo said on that occasion.
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