The National Day for Life Collection takes place in parishes on Sunday 21 June.
The collection is split 50/50 between the Archdiocese and the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.
The Day for Life was first proposed by Pope St John Paul II in his pro-life encyclical ‘The Gospel of Life’ (Evangelium Vitae).
He said: “The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as “good news” to the people of every age and culture.”
The Archdiocesan share of the special collection will be used to support pro-life work in line with our agreed definition, covering issues at the beginning and end of life: the unborn and their mothers, and the disabled, elderly and dying.
A regular use of our Day for Life collection has been to help young people in the Archdiocese attend SPUC’s Youth Conference (below).
The event is a huge boost for our young pro-lifers, giving them talks, tools and confidence to bring the Gospel of Life to their schools and universities.
Conor, an Edinburgh University student who attended this year, said: “The Conference was a valuable opportunity to reflect on pro-life work, in a thoughtful and respectful environment.
“I’m very grateful to the Archdiocese for their support in making this possible.”
In 2025, the Archdiocese also supported ARCH – the Abortion Recovery & Care Helpline.
ARCH provides understanding, counselling and support to women, men, other family members and healthcare staff affected by abortion through a Helpline available 365 days per year, counselling where requested and support groups where possible.
ARCH Director Louise Grant said: “An immense thank you to the Archdiocese for the wonderful donation and thank you for thinking of us.
“Thanks to the support of those like yourselves we’ve been able to grow our services and expand our reach. We are grateful to several volunteers in your Archdiocese who give their time selflessly to supporting our service users who call the Helpline looking for a listening ear.
“We can never underestimate the impact just being there at the other end of the phone can have.
“We know abortion hurts, that’s why we’re here.”
Also in 2025, monies were given to groups which led the successful campaign to defeat assisted suicide proposals at both Holyrood and Westminster.
Daniel Cuffe, Campaign Manager at Care Not Killing, said: “We are hugely grateful to Catholics across Scotland—especially clergy and parish groups— who have answered the call to engage with MSPs; the Archdiocese’s gift will help us to be ready when we call on them again.”
Part of the 2026 collection will be used to help Archdiocesan parishioners attend the March for Life UK in London, on 5 September.
If you are interested in attending contact Paul Atkin in the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Office: prolife@staned.org.uk
