Pope Francis has given his blessing to this year’s Day for Life, a date the Church has dedicated to raising awareness of the value and sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death. Day for Life 2020 will be marked throughout the British Isles, with a special theme of “Choose Life”, focusing on the dignity and worth of unborn children and expectant mothers.
Given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and the ensuing lockdown restrictions, the date for this year’s Day for Life and corresponding special collections and events may be changed. The 2020 Day for Life is currently scheduled to be celebrated on 31 May in Scotland, 21 June in England and Wales and 7 October in Ireland.
The Holy Father imparted his apostolic blessing in a message where he expressed his desire that the coronavirus crisis would lead to a greater awareness of the sanctity of life. In a letter, the Pope expressed his desire that the world would help build “a ‘culture of life’ marked by ever greater concern for nurturing, protecting and promoting the integral welfare of all God’s children, beginning with the most vulnerable.”
Responding to the Pope’s message, Bishop John Sherrington, the English and Welsh Bishop’s Conference’s lead on life issues, expressed his gratitude to the Pope, and agreed that the coronavirus pandemic “has reminded us in the starkest way of the importance and God-given dignity and worth of every life”. Sherrington, an auxiliary bishop of Westminster since 2011, added that “we pray that minds and hearts may be opened to the sheer gift and wonder of every new life in the womb”, and expressed his thanks to those who “work to protect this life more fully by legislation.”
This year’s theme was chosen to mark the 25th anniversary of Saint John-Paul II’s encyclical on abortion, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), and funds collected as a result of the Day for Life will be distributed to organisations campaigning to support the dignity of every life. The Church has stated that grant applications for funding in 2021 will be particularly welcomed from organisations working to protect mothers and unborn children. Previous Day for Life themes have included campaigns on human trafficking and on domestic abuse.
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