March 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – American “friends of Ireland” released the following letter urging support for the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which guarantees the right to life of unborn children in the Republic of Ireland. A referendum vote on the amendment is scheduled for May 25th:
On the Eve of Saint Patrick's Day 2018, we, the undersigned, Friends of Ireland, wish to reaffirm, and to remind all persons of goodwill, that the origin, tradition, and principal purpose of this celebration is to commemorate the Apostle who “brought to our mountains the gift of God's Faith and the sweet light of His Love.”
The Catholic Faith which Patrick imparted to the Irish people has defended, consistently, for two millenia, the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life in all of its stages and conditions.
This defense of life includes the lives of civilians and prisoners in time of war, the lives of indigenous peoples confronting colonization, the lives of the sick, elderly and disabled menaced by euthanasia, and the lives of children in the womb threatened by abortion.
Ireland, more than most nations, ought to understand how vulnerable the defenceless are to acts of capricious violence.
It would be a grave injustice, a grievous betrayal, and an existential tragedy if Ireland were to repudiate the Faith and legacy of Saint Patrick and embrace, instead, the ethics and practices of alien societies who have, through acts of violence, victimized the weak and the helpless, including, in past generations, the unoffending people of Ireland.
We would remind the people of Ireland, and her political leaders, that the best and most meaningful way to celebrate our patron saint is to preserve his patrimony, in both the Faith for which he evangelized an entire nation, and in his enduring solicitude for the lives of all of his flock who were endangered.
We urge the people of the Republic of Ireland to uphold the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution and to continue to protect innocent human life.”
John Aidan Byrne, President, Irish Pro-Life USA
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director, Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, Inc.,
Judge James F. McKay, President,
Daniel J. O'Connell, Vice-President
Jere E. Cole, Secretary
Sean Pender, Treasurer
Sohrab Ahmari, Journalist
Matthew Lee Anderson, D. Phil Candidate in Christian Ethics, Oxford University
Michael Bayer, Director of Evangelization, Saint Clement Catholic Church, Chicago
Micaiah Bilger, Journalist
Father Shenan J. Boquet, President, Human Life International
Very Reverend Monsignor Patrick S. Brennan, Pastor,
Saint Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Portland, Oregon
Thomas Brejcha, President & Chief Counsel, Thomas More Society
Doctor Jeffrey J. Burks, Vice-President, Notre Dame Chapter of University Faculty for Life,
Associate Professor of Accountancy, University of Notre Dame
Brian Camenker, President, Mass Resistance, Massachusetts
Charles Camosy, Associate Professor of Bioethics, Fordham University
S. Kathleen Carlson, MD Candidate, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Daniel Carlson, MD, Medical College of Virginia
Doctor Pat Castle, Coach and Founder, The National Life Runners Team
Commander Joseph L. Coffey, Chaplain Corps, United States Navy
Holly Taylor Coolman, Assistant Professor, Providence College
Daniel J. Costello, Jr., Bettex Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
William Cotter, President, Operation Rescue: Boston
Martijn Cremers, Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance, University of Notre Dame
Kristen Day, Executive Director, Democrats for Life
Patrick J. Deneen, David A. Potenziani Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame
Alexandra DeSanctis, Journalist
Benjamin Domenech, Publisher, The Federalist
Lauren Enriquez, Founder, Kingwood Pro-Life Women
Dan Flaherty, Irish Pro-Life USA, Knights of Columbus, Council 10419
Honorable Raymond L. Flynn, Former Mayor of Boston, Former U. S. Ambassador to the Holy See
Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO, Americans United for Life
Richard Garnett, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
Catherine Hadro, Host, EWTN Pro-Life Weekly
Beth Kieran Haile, Independent Scholar
Thomas A. Haltigan, Chairman, Rockaway Catholic Right to Life Ministries, New Jersey
Attorney Thomas M. Harvey, Chairman, Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortions
Christina Healey, MD Candidate, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Royce Hood, Founder, Law of Life Summit
Jack Hughes, JP Hughes Consulting, Philadelphia
Reverend Robert Imbelli, Associate Professor of Theology Emeritus, Boston College
Elise Italiano, Executive Director, The Given Institute
Attorney Robert W. Joyce, Boston
Joseph P. Kaboski, David F. and Erin M. Seng Foundation Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame
Jessica Keating, Notre Dame Office of Life and Human Dignity
Brian D. Kelly, Editor, Mancipia
Philip F. Lawler, Editor, Catholic World News
Rachel Lu, Independent Writer
James K. Matheson, DO, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Maria E. Matheson, BSN, DDS
Elizabeth S. Matheson MD, MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic Emergency Medicine
Colbe Corcoran Mazzarella, Founder, Way of the Cross for Life
John P. McCarthy PhD, Professor Emeritus of History, Fordham University
Ashley McKinless, Associate Editor, America Media
Wilson D. Miscamble C.S.C., Professor of History, University of Notre Dame
Antonio Robert Molle, Irish Pro-Life USA
Joanna Nurmis, Independent Scholar
Brendan O'Connell, Executive Producer and Host, Life Matters TV
Sarah E. Pitlyck, Special Counsel, Thomas More Society
C. C. Pecknold, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology, Catholic University of America
David Richter, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences,
University of Notre Dame
Kimberly Ross, Senior Contributor, RedState.com
Kate Scanlon, Writer
Matthew Schmitz, Senior Editor, First Things
Paul Shaniuk, MD, Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Mark P. Shea, Author
O. Carter Snead, Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
Collette and Michael Sweeney, Sidewalk Counsellors for Mothers in Crisis Pregnancies, New York
Timothy and Marcella Taggart, Irish Pro-Life USA
Sean Patrick Tracy, Managing Partner, Tracey & Fox, Houston
John-Henry Westen, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, LifeSiteNews.com
C. J. Williams, Director of Outreach, Rehumanize International
The Friends of Ireland is a coalition of American and Canadian organizations and individuals who esteem Ireland and her heritage, admire her traditions, and are solicitous for her future. Most are descendants of the Irish diaspora, and all value the contributions of Ireland to our common civilization.