By Hilary White
GLASGOW, Scotland, July 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The work of the Church to protect the unborn, to assist "frightened young" pregnant women and to help to "secure a better standard of living and greater opportunities for the poor," far from being mutually exclusive, are closely interrelated works that cannot be separated from each other, according to the Catholic bishop of Motherwell.
Joseph Devine, the fourth bishop of the diocese that encompasses parts of Glasgow in Scotland, said, "Indeed, a nation that condemns to abortion our beautiful and blameless unborn babies betrays itself as morally, ethically and politically untrustworthy and disinclined to give due care and attention to the poorest and weakest members of our society."
"Britain has among the highest abortion rates, the highest rates of family breakdown and the worst social problems in modern Europe. Do not tell me these things are not connected," the bishop wrote in an op-ed appearing in the Herald.
The bishop was responding to a column appearing in the Herald on July 15 in which Colette Douglas Home complained that too much attention was being paid to the fate of unborn children in the riding of Glasgow East, in which the nation is watching a by-election that is a crucial test for the Labour government.
The constituency is one of the poorest in Britain, with two thirds of its population living on public benefits and a life-expectancy 14 years below the national average.
"They have no shortage of needs to address," Douglas Home wrote. "At this time of economic downturn, in this deprived area, does the Catholic hierarchy have any right to assert that people will vote on the issue of other people's unborn children, when their own children are in need?"
To which Bishop Devine gives an unequivocal 'yes.' In his op-ed the bishop assures Ms. Douglas Home "that hardly a day passes when most priests and ministers of all denominations do not serve the poor and marginalised in our communities."
"Quite properly, the electorate will decide which issues are their priorities and vote accordingly. We can only hope that they give due consideration to family and life issues. It is certainly our duty to draw such issues to their attention."
Bishop Devine quotes polls that show 67 percent of the British population opposed to the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos. "Let me clarify once and for all that embryology research and abortion are not Catholic issues. Nor are they even multi-faith issues. They are national issues."
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Scotland Catholic Bishop Warns of "Huge and Well Orchestrated Conspiracy" by Homosexual Activists
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031306.html
Scotland Bishop Blasts Parliament Decision to Allow Gay Adoption
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06022703.html
