Ireland’s Archbishops have issued a joint pastoral statement on issues of concern ahead of this month’s general election.

Voicing a “shared anxiety” with many in Ireland “at the fact that there is an uncertain social climate in the country regarding vital sectors of people’s lives, especially regarding health, homes, education, security, the fostering of a solid human ecology, and international responsibility”, Archbishops Eamon Martin of Armagh, Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Kieran O’Reilly of Cashel and Emly, and Michael Neary of Tuam stress that the election “is a moment in which all…should reflect and take stock of the health of the nation and especially on how we respond to the plight of the most vulnerable”.

Among issues of particular concern to the Irish Church, the Archbishops point to current problems within education and the ongoing debate towards a post-election referendum on the constitutional protection of the unborn.

“There has been much discussion about inequality in access to education,” the prelates state. “The real inequality in Irish schools is not religious in nature but it is the economic inequality where poorer communities and schools with a large percentage of disadvantaged children are not being adequately supported.”

On abortion, meanwhile, they stress: “The Constitution of Ireland embraces the right to life of the unborn child.    It is a fundamental affirmation of equality, where the right to life of no child is considered of less value than that of another.   We strongly oppose any weakening of the affirmation of the right to life of the unborn.

“ A general election is an important moment which offers a democratic society an opportunity to reflect on its successes and failures…Democracy requires in the first place that all citizens exercise their right to vote and we strongly encourage all to vote in the up-coming election.”

The full statement of the Catholic Archbishops can be read here.