Day for Life is the day in the Church’s year dedicated to raising awareness about the meaning and value of human life at every stage and in every condition.
16 June 2024
The Church teaches that life is to be nurtured from conception to natural death. In England and Wales, Day for Life is celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year. This year it falls on 16 June. The theme is The Lord is my Shepherd – Compassion and Hope at the End of Life.
A debate on end-of-life issues has been in the headlines in recent months with calls for assisted suicide being expressed, especially by celebrities, a view that opposes the Catholic view that life is a gift and that we are called to care for others at the end of their lives.
Day for Life is marked on the same day by the three Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. We hope that parishes will be able to prepare to promote the Catholic view of life as a gift and the importance of care at the end of life using the resources that will be issued by the Conferences in due course.
Resources were created to enable parishes to highlight and pray for Day For Life. Included the Day for Life 2024 Message and Prayers.
With this year’s Day for Life taking as it’s theme care at the end of life, it is fitting that this Catholic News podcast, produced in partnership with the Centre for the Art of Dying Well, goes behind the scenes at St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, East London, to challenge stereotypes and find out how they provide high quality patient-centred care for the dying person.
Listen below or visit our podcast section to subscribe.
This year’s message for Day for Life is written by a hospital chaplain, who shares a testimony of compassion, hope and care.
Testimonies from those who care for the dying. We learn through their experiences that proper support and care can make death peaceful.
A scripture reflection for Day for Life focusing on compassion and hope at the end of life.
We are encouraging people to pray this novena starting on Thursday 23 May so that it finishes on Friday 31 May, on the Feast of the Visitation
Do you need help with care at the end of life - either for yourself or others? There are some wonderful organisations that can help you. Here are four that we are profiling.
Prayers that can be used on or around Day for Life, celebrated in parishes throughout England and Wales on Sunday, 16 June 2024.
All information on how to apply for a grant from the Day for Life Fund can be found here.
The theme in 2023 was ‘Listen to Her’ and focused on post-abortion trauma and the impact of abortion primarily on women, but also men and others.
'Day for Life' is the day in our calendar set aside to celebrate life from conception to natural death. In 2022 the focus was on caring for and valuing the elderly.
