Irish Bishops Issue Pastoral Letter to Mark The “Day For Life 2003” and The Pope’s Silver Jubilee

03 Oct 2003

PRESS RELEASE

3 October 2003

STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 12.00 MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY 5TH OCTOBER 2003

IRISH BISHOPS ISSUE PASTORAL LETTER TO MARK THE “DAY FOR LIFE 2003”

AND HE POPE’S SILVER JUBILEE

The Irish Bishops’ Conference has designated Sunday 12th October as the
Day for Life 2003.

In his 1995 Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope
John Paul II proposed that ‘a day for life be celebrated each year in every
country’. The primary purpose of this day should be ‘to foster in individual
consciences, in families, in the Church and in civil society a recognition
of the meaning and value of human life at every stage and in every condition’.

This year, the Day for Life coincides with the 25th Anniversary of the
Pontificate of His Holiness John Paul II who was elected on 16th October 1978.
To mark the Pope’s Silver Jubilee, the Irish Bishops’ Conference has issued a
Pastoral Letter entitled “The Wonder of Life” summarising the Pope’s
teachings on various life issues.

100,000 copies of the Pastoral Letter are being circulated to parishes throughout
Ireland, and the text is also available in an Irish Language version. Printed
copies of the Pastoral Letter are available at 50 cent from Veritas Publications
(www.veritas.ie). The text is also available on the website of the Catholic
Communications Office [www.catholiccommunications.ie]

ENDS
3 October 2003

NOTE TO EDITORS

The full text of the Pastoral Letter “The Wonder of Life” is
available on the Catholic Communications Office Website at
the following link: [www.catholiccommunications.ie/dayforlife]

FURTHER INFORMATION
Catholic Communications Office (01)505 3000
Fr Martin Clarke (087) 220 8044
Ms Brenda Drumm (087) 233 7797