The Day for Life
There will be a retiring collection today for the Day for Life, the day, initiated by the late Pope John Paul II, when the Catholic Church in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales dedicates to celebrating the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.
Day for Life 2010 aims to present the Church’s teaching on death; it will highlight the importance of the sacrament of the sick, of praying for the dead and of accompanying the dying person as they journey towards God. It will also point towards the consoling presence and support of the community of faith and all of those who ‘have gone before us marked with the sign of faith’.
Each year, in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Bishops’ Conferences work closely together to celebrate Day for Life. In Scotland the Day is celebrated on 31 May – The Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. In England and Wales, Day for Life falls on 25 July and in Ireland it will be celebrated on 3 October.
