Rome Newsroom, Jan 14, 2021 / 07:00 am
French bishops asked Catholics on Wednesday to pray and fast for the next four Fridays for respect for human life from conception in response to new legislation.
With France's controversial bioethics bill returning to the Senate for a second round of debate this month, the French bishops' conference launched a prayer campaign on Jan. 13 in light of the "widespread blindness to the dignity of every human being" in French society.
The bishops of France called on "all Catholics, as well as men and women of goodwill, to turn to God by praying and fasting to ask Him for the grace to open our eyes to all and to be artisans of respect for all human beings from their conception."
"With a peaceful, but relentless heart, Catholics wish to help our French society to be a society of love and hope in truth and respect for human dignity, otherwise the fraternity advocated in our republican motto would be an illusion," they said, referring to the national motto, "Liberté, égalité, fraternité."