Bishops’ statement on the Pastoral Letter ‘Celebrating Human Life’
Our motivation for writing this Pastoral Letter was to carry out our duty of preaching to Catholics, those principles of the faith in which they should believe and how these may be applied to moral life.
Our mission as Bishops makes sense only if it is one with Christ. This unity can only be guaranteed if it is in conformity with the teachings of the Magisterium. This applies also in the case of priests. For this reason, we are appreciative of the fact that a large number of priests are in communion with us, the Bishops.
Since the recent Pastoral Letter deals with a very sensitive issue, before its publication, it was sent to a theologian at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for his informal advice.
This document was issued by both Bishops and for this reason, it expresses our common position.
We have observed that some people took offence, and in this light, we wish to confirm that it was not our intention to cause offence in any way. On the contrary, because we mean good to all, we made reference to the dignity of the children born with the process of IVF as children of God; we mentioned an openness to the grace of reconciliation for those involved and we also appealed to scientists in order that they may continue to seek methods which are ethically correct which may be for the benefit of couples who are facing problems with infertility.
8th August 2012
+ Paul Cremona O.P.
Archbishop of Malta
+ Mario Grech
Bishop of Gozo
