Following the tragic news of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference offered his prayers for the 241 victims and their families.
Meanwhile in Rome, Pope Leo expressed his condolences and offered prayers. In a telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the Pope said he was “deeply saddened by the tragedy involving an Air India aircraft near Ahmedabad.” Read more.
Bishop Bosco MacDonald, Bishop of the Clifton Diocese in the west of England, has expressed his sorrow after a UK-bound Air India plane crashed just after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in the Gujarat region of India. Bishop MacDonald, praying for all affected, made particular reference to the impact on communities in his diocese. Read more
The Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop John Sherrington, is asking Catholics to contact their MPs to encourage them to oppose two amendments on abortion in the Crime and Policing Bill. Read more.
The Church teaches that life is to be nurtured from conception to natural death. In England and Wales, Day for Life is celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year. This year it falls on 15 June.
The theme is Hope does not Disappoint: Finding meaning in Suffering. It is inspired by Romans 5:5-6. St Paul invites us to see that Christian hope is not just naïve optimism but, rather, an unshakeable trust in the power and presence of God who is with us always. This hope can endure the darkness of human suffering and even see beyond it. More information.
The Day for Life Fund provides financial assistance each year to organisations working to support the Church’s mission to protect human life from conception to natural death. Find out more.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which seeks to legalise assisted suicide, is fast approaching its decisive vote in the House of Commons which will likely take place on either the 13 or 20 of June. Read more.
The Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Jim Curry, has echoed Pope Leo XIV’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza:
“This is a humanitarian disaster. Desperately needed aid supplies must be allowed into Gaza to be urgently distributed to civilians. The human cost is intolerably high with tens of thousands of weary, regularly displaced people threatened with starvation. We need an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering.” Read more.
Pope Leo XIV appeals for peace in war-torn parts of the world, praying for people suffering because of war, especially in Gaza, Myanmar, and Ukraine. Read more.
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