Day 7 - Civic Leaders

Intercession

May civic leaders work for the protection of all human life, in every stage and circumstance.

Prayers

Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be

Reflection

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. Every one of us has a right to our life. It is not given to us by any law or government. We have it ‘as of right’, whether we are wealthy or poor, healthy or sick. That our society has decided that one category of human being should have that right taken from them was a shocking step. It effectively says that unborn children do not exist or, if they do, they do not count. This is a manifest injustice: any law that removes the right to life is an unjust law and must be resisted by every person, every voter, every political representative.

Those who work as public officials and civic leaders have a duty to serve the common good, and therefore have a profound obligation to safeguard this most fundamental right to life. For Catholic politicians this is not only a matter of protecting the human right to life but also a fundamental matter of our faith. Voters have a duty to inform themselves on the position of election candidates in respect of their willingness to support and cherish equally the lives of mothers and their unborn children. Through our own prayer, witness, and civic participation, we can encourage our leaders to truly answer their call to protect the rights of all people. For “there can be no true democracy without a recognition of every person’s dignity and without respect for his or her rights” (Evangelium Vitae 101).

Acts of Reparation (Choose one.)

• Sacrifice some of your free time to do a small act of service, such as making breakfast for a family member, helping out a coworker, or praying for the intentions of a friend.
• Offer this Prayer for Religious Freedom, that Christians may always be free to respect, protect, and defend human life and would have the courage to do so
• Offer some other sacrifice, prayer, or penance that you feel called to do for today’s intention.

One Step Further

In December 2018, following the removal from the Constitution of Ireland of the right to life for unborn children, the Irish Catholic Bishops affirmed “women’s lives, and the lives of their unborn children, are precious, valued and always deserving of protection. Any law which suggests otherwise would have no moral force. In good conscience it cannot be supported and would have to be resisted. Read more at “Abortion cannot be supported”

Another crucial challenge in our times is the need for the state to uphold the value of human life in the case of those who live with degenerative or terminal illness. In 2020, the Vatican issued a document Samaritanus Bonus (The Good Samaritan): on the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life. In it we read, “euthanasia is an act of homicide that no end can justify and that does not tolerate any form of complicity or active or passive collaboration. Those who approve laws of euthanasia and assisted suicide, therefore, become accomplices of a grave sin that others will execute. They are also guilty of scandal because by such laws they contribute to the distortion of conscience, even among the faithful” Read more at “Samaritanus Bonus”.