Cherishing Life Study Course

How about doing a ‘Cherishing Life’ course with a group of interested people in your parish?
Or using with your ‘Team’ if you are in a Teams Group…
Or an Ascent group…
Or any other sort of group who want to look at Church teaching on human life in some depth…

What is it?

Cherishing Life is a document written by the Bishops of England and Wales in 2004. It explains to Catholics and those who share our values the Church’s teaching on serious issues – such as healthcare provision, care for people with disability, care for older people, and the protection of children. It values the many signs today that society appreciates and cherishes life in these areas, but also recognises a strong culture of death with a rising number of abortions, calls for euthanasia to be legalised, crime, and a lack of protection for marriage and the family.

In their document, the Bishops, building on the widely-read ‘The Common Good’ and ‘Catholic Social Teaching’, addressing social life and justice in our country, aim to inform conscience and encourage us all to contribute further to the public debate – each of us has an important role in influencing and shaping values today.

Some of the topics you can explore are:

• The foundations for moral reflection
• When does life begin and end
• Prayer, rest, and the search for inner meaning
• Love, friendship and sexuality
• Marriage, family, and divorce
• Euthanasia, healthcare, infertility and abortion
• Caring for creation
• War and peace
• The responsibilities of society, citizens and the Church

You can get the booklet from CTS (Catholic Truth Society), from www.cts-online.org.uk or by ringing 0207 640 0042

You can download a Study Guide from the Catholic Church’s website www.catholicchurch.org.uk/cherishing life

The Study Guide

Divided into seven sections
Part 1: Sections 1-3 laying the foundations for reflection
Part 11: Sections 4-6 considering a range of issues using the headings from the Prophet Micah ‘Walk humbly’, ‘Love tenderly’ and ‘Act justly’
Part 111: 7th and final section concluding the document, outlining the responsibilities of society, individual citizens and the Church, in building together a ‘culture of life’ in which life is cherished in all its stages.

• You can adapt the sessions according to your needs – fewer sessions, focussing on certain sections for example
• Each session begins with Prayer and Scripture reflection
• There are reflective questions to stimulate discussion

Each session concludes with prayer