Bishop Bosco MacDonald, the Bishop Conference’s Lead Bishop for Marriage and Family Life, has offered a reflection on the recent document from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Life is Always a Good.
In it, he says that the Church’s defence of life needs to move beyond being “reactive” and towards a “culture of co-responsibility, where every baptised person is called to participate in the protection and promotion of human life”.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Evangelium Vitae, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life offered the Church a new pastoral framework entitled Life is Always a Good. This is more than a commemoration of a landmark encyclical: it is a call to spiritual and pastoral renewal and a summons to place the gift of human life once again at the very heart of the Church’s mission.
At the foundation of this framework lies a profound truth: life is not an idea, it is a person. The Gospel of Life is not a concept or a campaign, but the very person of Jesus Christ. To proclaim life, therefore, is to proclaim Christ, who came that all might have life, and have it abundantly (cf. John 10:10).
This Gospel must be embodied in every pastoral field – not just in statements or protests, but in presence, service, and accompaniment. Whether in a hospital ward, a classroom, a refugee shelter, or a family home, the Church is called to be the face of Christ for every life, especially the most vulnerable.
Too often our efforts in defence of life have been reactive—responding to legislation, scandals, or tragedies. Life is Always a Good urges us beyond crisis management toward a culture of co-responsibility, where every baptised person is called to participate in the protection and promotion of human life.
This calls for a shift from pastoral “activism” to pastoral discernment. We ask: Who is missing in our community? Who is unseen, unheard, or unloved? Life is threatened not only by overt violence but also by indifference, isolation, and abandonment. We must become a Church of presence.
I was especially struck by the synodal spirit of this framework. It draws deeply from the Church’s ongoing journey of synodality—a way of walking together, listening to the Spirit, and discerning the signs of the times. This is a method particularly needed in our pastoral care of life. No one parish, diocese, or movement holds all the answers. Together—bishops, priests, deacons, religious, families, educators, and young people—we are all invited to discern where and how the Spirit is calling us to act for life in our local context. Through “conversation in the Spirit,” we move from programmes to processes, from events to relationships, from planning to pilgrimage.
A central theme of the framework document is the ‘formation of formators’. If we are to pass on the Gospel of Life to new generations, we must invest in the formation of those who teach, accompany, and lead. This includes catechists, pastoral leaders, school staff, youth workers, and above all, parents. Such formation must be grounded in a Christian understanding of the human person—a vision of the human person as created in the image of God, called to communion, and destined for eternity. It must also be practical, helping people navigate the complex moral, emotional, and technological challenges of our day.
Finally, and most importantly, Life is Always a Good is not a lament, it is a proclamation of hope. In a world where death often shouts louder than life, we are called to sow “seeds of life” in faith that they will grow. As Pope Francis reminds us, “the seeds of life are stronger than the seeds of death.”
So we shouldn’t be discouraged by cultural shifts, legal setbacks, or indifference. The Church does not proclaim life as a nostalgic ideal but as a present and living reality. Every child conceived, every elder cared for, every stranger welcomed, every wound tended is a sign of the Kingdom.
Life is Always a Good seems to invite us to ask questions such as: How can we better accompany those at the margins of life? The unborn, the elderly, the poor, the excluded? How can we form young people not only to oppose evil, but to love good? What structures can we build or renew—in schools, parishes, and diocesan offices—to ensure that the Gospel of Life is lived and proclaimed in every pastoral activity?
The Church’s love for life is not rooted in fear, but in joy because every life is a revelation of God’s love. We mustn’t be silent. We mustn’t grow weary. But instead we are being invited to recommit ourselves together to the mission of St John Paul II: to respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! (Evangelium Vitae, 5)
+Bosco
Rt Rev.Bosco MacDonald
Bishop of Clifton
