While continuing to work to change laws to protect the unborn and support pregnant women in need, “we need to redouble our efforts to continue building, in the words of St. John Paul II, ‘a culture of life and a civilization of love,'” Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, said Jan. 22.
Respect Life
On the eve of the 2026 March for Life in Washington, Pope Leo XIV issued a message to participants, expressing his deep gratitude for their “eloquent public witness” and imparting his apostolic blessing.
Ahead of the French Senate debate on the “assisted dying” bill Jan. 20, French bishops reaffirmed their opposition to the projected law, saying, “We do not care for life by giving death.”
As the nation’s Catholics are set to remember unborn children in prayer, a U.S. bishop is stressing that amid several positive developments in safeguarding human life, “many challenges remain” in making abortion “unthinkable.”
The first lesson every bishop must learn is humility, Pope Leo XIV said.
The upcoming annual observance of Respect Life Month by the nation’s Catholics takes on new meaning amid the Jubilee Year of Hope, said the chair of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee.
While society is increasingly focused on pushing the limits of human achievement, it must not lose sight of its duty to protect the dignity of the vulnerable, especially children exploited by the “scourge of child labor,” Pope Francis said.
Catholic bishops in England have decried a vote for assisted suicide, with one saying it represented a “dark day” in the history of the country.
The March for Life Education and Defense Fund Oct. 10 unveiled the theme for its upcoming event: “Every Life: Why We March.”
The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities is inviting Catholics nationwide to pray “9 Days for Life” Jan. 16-24. The annual Respect Life novena encompasses observance of the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, which is Jan. 22.