The pro-life group Youth Defence has said that Pope Benedict's call for a worldwide Vigil for All Nascent Human Life could not have come at a better time as the Irish campaign to protect the human embryo gathers speed. On Monday of this week, Youth Defence launched a new and exciting billboard campaign to protect the human embryo, and they plan to send the country's churches an accompanying fact-card on and before November 27th, highlighting the need to protect life from conception.

"The colourful and striking billboard is part of our You Me Everybody campaign, which is just one project we're rolling out right now to protect the human embryo," said Dr Eoghan de Faoite of Youth Defence. "It focuses the attention of the public on the fact that 'we're all just grown-up embryos' and on the need to protect life right now since our government will bring forward legislation on the human embryo very soon, and that legislation should defend the right to life from conception."

"That means making people fully informed so we've produced fact-cards: a postcard replica of the billboard with some key facts about early human life and the unethical nature of embryonic stem cell research spelled out on the back.

"The timing of the Pope's call for a worldwide vigil is perfect, as our volunteers will be distributing fact-cards into doors and churches on and before that time. We're hoping for a really positive response and will build on that for the next steps in what's really an ongoing eight month campaign to protect early human life from being treated as a commodity," said Dr de Faoite.

Youth Defence's focus on the human embryos comes in advance of government legislation promised in the coming months which was expected to attempt to limit the legal protection of embryos outside the womb and to allow for embryonic stem cell research. "For the past ten years we've argued for legal protection of human life from conception and the polls show that we've brought public opinion with us on this issue," said Dr Eoghan de Faoite. "We need to keep the pressure on and to keep the public aware."

Pope Benedict has called for all Catholics to join in the vigil, which is to be celebrated in local parishes and dioceses at the beginning of Advent. The Pope will celebrate the vigil in St. Peter's Basilica on the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, and has requested that "all diocesan bishops (and their equivalent) of every particular church preside in analogous celebrations involving the faithful in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements."

If you are available to help distribute these fact-cards outside of Masses at your parish or at parishes in your surrounding area, please call us at 01-8730463. We need as much help as we can to ensure that this campaign is as successful as possible and that we can spread this message to as many people as possible.

See more on the You.Me.Everybody Campaign here

See more photos of billboards here