UK Catholic bishops warn of 2025 threats to life via assisted suicide and abortion bills; eye 2033 jubilee, Eucharistic Congress, emancipation anniversary.
Newsroom (14/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have branded 2025 a year “marked by an assault on the value of human life,” citing parliamentary efforts to legalise assisted suicide and decriminalise abortion in certain cases up to birth.
Gathered at Hinsley Hall in Leeds for their autumn plenary meeting this week, the bishops issued a statement expressing “deep sadness” over the advancing Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which could permit assisted suicide for terminally ill adults.
The legislation, they argued, would devalue human life and endanger vulnerable individuals. “We have expressed our concerns on many occasions, highlighting the danger of coercive control and the pressure that will be put on vulnerable people who are ill,” the statement read. It further cautioned about risks to care homes and hospices whose missions oppose such practices, noting that facilitating assisted suicide could threaten their survival.
The bishops also voiced alarm at an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill proposing decriminalisation of abortion up to birth under specific circumstances, warning it would “further endanger the life of the unborn child.”
Archbishop of Liverpool John Sherrington, the bishops’ lead on life issues, underscored the urgency during the plenary. “Hope has not been lost, but 2025 is marked by an assault on human life, both at its beginning and at the end,” he said. “That’s why the bishops have spent time focusing on the two bills in the House of Lords at the present time: the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the Crime and Policing Bill.”
In a separate reflection, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, touched on recent milestones including the election of Pope Leo XIV, the state visit of King Charles and Queen Camilla to the Holy See, and the declaration of St. John Henry Newman as a Doctor of the Church and co-patron of Catholic education.
Looking ahead, Nichols directed attention to 2033, the 2,000th anniversary of key events in Christ’s passion, resurrection, and ascension, alongside the commissioning of the apostles. “Our eyes have been on the year 2033,” he said. “Think of it, the 2000th anniversary of the Last Supper, the death of Christ on the cross, of the empty tomb being discovered and the Risen Christ meeting us, of his ascension into heaven, and maybe most of all, the 2000th anniversary of Him giving us our mission: Go out to the whole world, teach the good news.”
A precursor to these commemorations will be the National Eucharistic Congress, Adoremus, scheduled for October next year in London. Events will unfold at St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark and Westminster Cathedral, culminating in a Blessed Sacrament Procession through the capital’s streets. The previous Adoremus Congress occurred last year at Oscott College in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Nichols also highlighted the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Relief Act of 1829, which ended centuries of legal restrictions on Catholics. “It enabled Catholics again to take our place in society, to be servants in society, and to play our part in the common good and social cohesion of society,” he noted.
These milestones, Nichols concluded, will build toward 2033, renewing the Church’s foundational mission. “We will find again, I’m sure, in the power of the Holy Spirit, something of that original and so important mission given by Christ to all those who choose to follow him, to every baptised person: Go, serve, proclaim the good news.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from The Tablet
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