PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, 19 November 2015
TERRORISM ONLY REINFORCES OUR COMMITMENT TO THE DEFENCE OF LIFE AND HUMAN DIGNITY AS THE SIGN OF EUROPE’S HERITAGE
In the wake of the Friday 13th November horrific terror attacks on Paris, the One Of Us Federation and Its Member Entities would like to express to their French friends, partners and all the victims of these attacks their deep sorrow and solidarity. More than ever, these events reinforce the Federation’s commitment to the defence of life and against all forms of terror against human dignity.
Only from a deep respect for life and freedom, will we be able to build a just society. Europe must strengthen its identity, as one committed to freedom and to humanism, through a serious commitment to religious freedom and to the right to life. Only then will we be able to build a generous society whilst remaining strong in our principles.
Europe’s moral authority in defending life and liberty must be demonstrated constantly, and not only when there are bloody attacks on our continent. The EU must be consistent and coherent in the exercise of its foreign and domestic policies of its Member States.
Faced with these atrocious acts of terrorism that are threatening the principles and values that sustain our democracy, we must react. We must reaffirm our will to be hospitable, whilst simultaneously making sure that we do not compromise our identity; an identity that defends life and freedom.
The Federation and its 28 member entities have long been working to organize the first One Of Us European Forum in Paris.. With greater conviction, we believe that this Forum must take place in Paris and affirm our commitment to respond to terror by strongly standing up and cherishing life. Nothing will ever alter our commitment to life from conception to natural death.
In consultation with the French authorities and partners, the Federation Executive Committee has decided to guaranty the best organization and safety for the Forum and its expected 1000 participants, and to postpone the One Of Us Forum to the date of March 12th 2016, instead of January 23rd as planned.
On this occasion we will address with a renewed conviction the current urgent threats to life in Europe, in all their modern forms, such as: sales of organs and tissues from abortion by Planned Parenthood in the US, drifts toward euthanasia of disabled and minors, women and children trafficking through gestational surrogacy, etc.
The Forum will be a defining moment for local movements across Europe a to unite in finding solutions to those threats, and join in affirming that:
“Every Life Matters!”
More information on the One of Us Forum and conditions for registration will be out soon. Meanwhile, the One of Us Federation will unveil a series of events to publicize the “Appeal of European Experts”. For more details, visit:
Contact: press@oneofusappeal.eu or by telephone at +33 1 86 26 62 64
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The ONE OF US European Federation for Life and Human Dignity is an international non-profit, non-political and non-denominational Federation legally registered under Belgian law. To date it is composed by 28 national and local member entities who participated in the collect of signatures during the One of Us European Citizens Initiative and provide care, counsel and advocacy free services to all throughout Europe.
