Bishop Nulty: ‘A Pro-Life ethos is one that thrives on encounter’

06 May 2025

Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin

  • Homily for Mass ahead of the 2025  ‘March for Life’ in Dublin city

Introduction
 We gather to put what happens this afternoon in context.  We gather to put ourselves in the hands of God before we set out on our ‘March for Life 2025’.  We gather to realise we are not alone, we, who are the voice of those without any voice.
 
The late Pope Francis reminded us “God’s mercy is our liberation and our happiness.  We live thanks to mercy and we cannot afford to go without: it is the air we breathe. We are too poor to set conditions.  We need to forgive because we need to be forgiven[0] and so we pray:

  • Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy: A Thiarna, déan trócaire 
  • Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth:  A Chríost, déan trócaire
  • Bí linn i gconaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way.  A Thiarna, déan trócaire

Homily
Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble,be with me Lord, I pray
 
We gather in the church, most associated with Saint John Henry Newman, whose motto is “cor ad cor loquitor”, which translates as “heart speaks to heart”. 

In the Acts of the Apostles we meet Stephen, who is fired up by God’s Word and despite being the victim of trumped up allegations, he continues more robustly than ever to defend his faith.  What a beautiful line: “his face was like the face of an angel[1].  May we march with the faces of angels, convinced of our pro-life cause, but respectful in our interactions with others.  We win people over not just by articulate argument but also by our demeanour.
 
Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me Lord, I pray
 
John’s gospel recounts in detail the day after the feeding of the 5,000.  The crowd are in search of Jesus. He knows they are after him for more food, for more nourishment.  While Saint John Henry Newman focused on the heart, it’s said that the best way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.  Maybe that’s why there is so much feeding in the scriptures.  The Easter apparition stories are often around a breakfast scene; the Emmaus account is written in the context of a supper.  But Jesus invites them and us to go deeper, to work “for the food that endures for eternal life[2].  It’s not enough for us to march, to hold our banner, to chant our message, we need to be truly pro-life.
 
Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me Lord, I pray
 
There are many attacks on the sacredness of life.  Allowing our brothers and sisters to die on boats in the Mediterranean, is an attack on life.  Losing our life on a job, because proper safety standards are not adhered to, is an attack on life.  Filming with our smartphone a road traffic accident on the motorway or a swimmer struggling during a lunch time swim, while lifebuoys are at easy reach, is an attack on life.  Dying from starvation, when food convoys are a few hundred metres away, is an attack on life.  Terrorism, war, violence, euthanasia, misnamed ‘dying with dignity’, are all an attack on life.  Abortion, any amount, any number, is always an attack on life.
 
Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me Lord, I pray
 
I have huge respect for mothers who have endured an abortion and today live with the trauma of it.  I have huge regard for midwives, obstetricians and medical personnel whose conscientious objection must be respected.  I have huge time for people who are passionate on this subject, sometimes to the detriment of their own career progression.  We all must become advocates for the protection of life; for the dignity and sacred value of every human life from the moment of conception to its natural end.
 
Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me Lord, I pray
 
Pope Francis who was buried on Saturday week last.  Yesterday was the ninth day of mourning, of novemdiales, that follows a Pope’s death.  Cardinal Re, the 91 year old Dean of the College of Cardinals, reminded us at the Requiem of Pope Francis’s “persistent advocacy for a ‘culture of encounter’ against the prevailing ‘throwaway culture’ ”.  A Pro-Life ethos is one which thrives on encounter.  Stephen advocates it in our first reading from Acts of the Apostles.  His words spell bound those who listened.  Even those charged with finding something to pin on him, were lost for words, he had “the face of an angel[3].  The crowd on John’s gospel seek Jesus, another example of encounter, but Jesus invites them and all of us to all the time go deeper.

As we return home later this evening after our march, may we be true advocates who work at changing hearts and minds, afterall, “cor ad cor loquitor”, heart speaks to heart.
 
Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me Lord, I pray

ENDS

  • Bishop Denis Nulty is Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin and chair of the Council for Marriage and Family of the Irish Bishops’ Conference.  This homily was delivered yesterday during Mass in Newman University Church, Saint Stephen’s Green, Archdiocese of Dublin.

[0] Pope Francis, ‘I Want You to be Happy’, Hodder & Stoughton, 2025, pgs. 177-178

[1] Ac.6:15
[2] Jn.6:27
[3] Ac.6:15