Rally for Life Belfast. Photo: Mak Marketing Agency. Speaking ahead of Belfast’s Rally for Life on July 4, Bishop Kevin Doran urged his audience to think of pregnancy as a gift and privilege rather than a burden, and called for communities to work together to support mothers.
“We need to be promoting new ways of thinking and speaking about pregnancy, not as a burden or a crisis, but as a gift from God and as a privilege,” said the Bishop of Achonry and Elphin.
Bishop Doran said local communities must “find new ways of supporting mothers who face particular challenges in pregnancy.” He noted that while there is support and outreach for women in crisis pregnancies, both practical and pastoral, it is “far too dependent on a very small number of people and on very limited resources.”
The bishop delivered his homily at St Malachy’s Church, Belfast, in advance of the rally at Belfast City Hall. The Belfast Rally for Life, Liberty and Faith was described by organisers as “one of the largest pro-life demonstrations held in Belfast in recent years”, with thousands in attendance, according to a press release from Northern Ireland’s leading pro-life organisation, Precious Life.