Bishops’ missive ‘reaffirms Catholic moral teaching’

A statement issued by the Catholic bishops in response to Savita Halappanavar’s death is to be distributed at Masses this weekend.

The joint statement was drafted at a meeting of the standing committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference in Maynooth earlier this week and seeks to “reaffirm some aspects of Catholic moral teaching”.

It is up to the individual bishops in the 26 Catholic dioceses whether or not they wish to disseminate the statement among their respective congregations. It is understood that some dioceses intend to publish the statement — which runs to some 500 words — in their parish newsletters.