2014-07-25 12:46:00

Archbishop talks about Church's "Day for Life" celebration in Britain


(Vatican Radio)  Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark in London says the annual “Day for Life” celebration being marked in Britain on Sunday July the 27th is extremely important as “we’ve got to be a voice for the voiceless.”   Archbishop Smith who is the Chair of the Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship spoke to Susy Hodges about this annual celebration and discussed the challenges of getting the pro-life message across in today’s society. 

In a message marking this annual “Day for Life” Pope Francis urged Catholics across Britain to work “to ensure adequate legal protection for the fundamental human right to life.”  He also asked them to bring Christ’s merciful love “as a life-giving balm to those troubling new forms of poverty and vulnerability” increasingly evident in contemporary society. 

Archbishop Smith who is the spokesperson for the Catholic Church on pro-life issues said this annual “Day for Life” is “extremely important” especially as recently in Britain there have been “many attacks” on the sacredness of human life.  Among these attacks, he pointed to the current attempt in the House of Lords to push through a bill that would make “euthanasia lawful” which he said is "euphemistically called the assisted-dying” bill.  Archbishop Smith noted that Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and the leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury wrote a joint letter to members of the House of Lords in which they warned that, if passed, this bill “would be a disaster for our society.”

Asked about the difficulties of preaching the Church’s pro-life message in today’s secularized society, Archbishop Smith acknowledged that they are “swimming against the tide” but noted that this was precisely the type of difficulties that Jesus faced in his ministry and so they must never give up.

“We mustn’t be disheartened by it but we’ve got to be a voice for the voiceless and we must never stop proclaiming the gospel, however dispiriting, sometimes, the lack of response is.”

 

Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark:  








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