In his homily given at Newman University Church, Dublin, before the ‘March for Life’, Bishop Kevin Doran said: “People have been having babies since the dawn of creation, but for most of that time, we had very little understanding of what exactly was going on in the womb. The biology of cells was discovered less than four hundred years ago, and it is only a little more than 150 years since the discovery of DNA.
“Everything we have discovered since then has confirmed that, while pregnancy is a time of rapid growth and development, there is a radical continuity between the fertilised ovum and the child who is born at the end of nine months. That is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of scientific fact. Philosophers can interpret it, but they can’t change it. A human embryo is an individual member of the human species; otherwise known as a person.
“Nothing – no law, no public policy and no peer pressure from neighbours or colleagues can remove our right and indeed our responsibility to advocate publicly for those who are most vulnerable, especially at the beginning and at the end of life. While the Medical Council has no policy one way or the other on assisted suicide, and has entirely removed the section on abortion from its code of conduct, we still stand with our doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who refuse to be bullied into participating in ending the lives of their patients.
“We do this, not just because of what science tells us, but also because we believe in the inherent God-given dignity of every human life. This is a dignity that does not depend on society or law, on wealth or nationality, on physical or mental health or ability, because before ever we are formed in the womb, God knows us intimately and loves us for all eternity.”
To read the full homily click here
