Fr Greg Morgan
2nd December 2025
BEYOND PROTEST:
WHY PRAYER AND PRESENCE MUST LEAD THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT
Reverend Doctor Gregory M W Morgan
As I reflected on what I would like to say tonight, I kept returning to an encounter I had about nine years ago at Heathrow airport. I have shared this with some of you before. But because it gives a starting point for why I believe prayer and presence must lead the pro-life movement, I want to share it again. It was about 5am am there was a delay getting into the terminal. I was not dressed as a priest, and I was not in the mood for much conversation: vocational or otherwise. But, of course, God has a sense of humour. And, so, the man in front of me, who was giving off the vibe of wanting to chat, soon turned around and initiated a conversation.
Eventually, there came the dreaded question: “What do you do for a living?” I answered him quite honestly by saying: “I’m a doctoral student.” He was a human rights lawyer, working for a privately funded “law firm” in London. His primary role, he said, is to work with legislators and politicians in different parts of the world to promote various things but among them was the legalisation of what he described as the “right to abortion”. Now remember, he didn’t know I was a Catholic priest and probably had assumed, wrongly, that I was a socially progressive student with woke sensitivities.
I cannot quite recall how the conversation turned in this direction, but then he said something very curious. He asked me: “Do you want to know why we have been so successful?” I distinctly remember thinking, “what a strange thing to ask.” Though, I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity for insight. What are the chances of a Catholic priest having a conversation with a leading advocate for abortion at 5am, in Heathrow airport, where, quite literally, he would offer me the secret to their tragic success.
What he disclosed really took me by surprise: “When we started the firm, we sat around a table and asked ourselves to imagine the kind of world we want to live in. And, together, we imagined a world where every woman had reproductive rights, where every person had the right to end their life at their choosing, and where every person had the right to marry who they loved.”
To be honest, my first reaction was one of scepticism — it just sounded far too simple. Surely, there was something more strategical; something more mendacious behind it? But, over time, I realised that, in fact, what he was revealing to me was the power of vision – the power that comes with clear starting points. For every “vision” inspiration and every inspiration has a source — it doesn’t come from nowhere.
So, despite the horror of what that lawyer said to me, we cannot underestimate how powerful that vision of a future reality – a reality to be made – is. (Because, my goodness, can evil motivate people.) Indeed, if the saints can be motivated and inspired by a vision of God; then we should also assume that the so-called “pro-choice” ideology can be motivated and inspired by a vision of darkness — so dark, in fact, that the reality of a human life is not simply ignored; but even completely vanquished altogether.
This brings me, then, to a foundational point. In life, as in philosophy, everything rests upon where we choose to begin. Beginnings shape destinies. The starting point determines the end.
If the starting point for the culture of death is a distorted vision of reality – a vision fuelled by lies and darkness – how much more must the pro-life movement return to its true starting points: prayer and presence before the Lord of truth and light. If for that lawyer, everything began around a table, imagining what kind of world he and his colleagues wanted to will into existence, then, for us, everything must begin on our knees, discerning, and imploring, that the Lord’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven”.
And so, if I am to explain why the future of the pro-life movement must move beyond protest, it is because only prayer and presence can reshape us, and in reshaping us, reshape the movement itself. To make this concrete, I want to reflect on three contrasts that might point us toward the future:
(1) The contrast between perception and blindness.
(2) The contrast between presence and performance.
(3) The contrast between living as a witness and grasping at power.
PERCEPTION vs BLINDNESS
We must begin – before anything else – with a basic (but much overlooked) realisation: that the pro-life struggle is not, at its root, a political problem — it is, without question, a spiritual problem.
The reality of abortion – as with euthanasia or same-sex marriage – is not primarily about policies or rights, but about vision. It reflects a blindness; a complete inability to see reality as it truly is. When you think about it, it is perhaps the most sobering contrast we can ever imagine: that in our society we encounter a growing group of human beings who will quite literally jump with joy and jubilation at having the power to end the life of an unborn child even up to term, while, to us, the very same reality is deeply harrowing; saddening; almost unbearable to contemplate. How is that possible?
Such an absolute dichotomy of perspectives cannot be explained away as merely a clash of different philosophical positions; scientific convictions; or political persuasions. It is nothing less than a clash of radically (irreconcilable) different conceptions of reality.
So let me reiterate again: our struggle and our mission is not political, it is fundamentally spiritual. If we get this starting point wrong, then everything that follows will ultimately falter.
One way to demonstrate this is to simply ask a question that I don’t think we ask enough: Why do we seem to keep losing the “culture wars” (especially on life issues)? On the surface at least, the opposite should be true: for example, as time has progressed, “the science” (which was so readily invoked to argue against the pro-life cause) has only become clearer and clearer — even as far back as 2003, the revered atheist and political commentator, Christopher Hitchens said, (and I quote), that even “the most partially formed human embryo is both human and alive has now been confirmed… We are the first generation to have to confront this as a certain knowledge.”[1] But this changed nothing for him. Indeed, he maintained it was essential for a woman to have the power to end the life of the unborn child for economic or health reasons. In fact, he said abortion was the “key”![2]
Now, I am not saying that we should not be invested in formulating the best scientific and philosophical arguments to support our position. But what I am saying is that even if the science is irrefutable; even if the philosophy is as compelling as it could possibly be — the facts alone won’t change hearts and minds. Indeed, in today’s cultural climate, the facts (the truth) doesn’t really matter. Being logically inconsistent no longer matters either!
An obvious and pertinent example of this is how that when a woman suffers a miscarriage, the culture instinctively speaks of the loss of a baby and rightly expresses sympathy and concern. Yet if that same child is deliberately aborted, we are told it is merely a lump of cells, and we are expected to rejoice at its demise and exalt the woman’s choice. Or consider how we are told abortion is a women’s issue, and therefore men must remain silent. But then, in the next breath, we are told that men can have babies, and it is transphobic to assert the contrary. Or recall how we are told to celebrate International Women’s Day and fight for women’s rights—yet the word “woman” is now considered impossible to define.
So, return to the question: Why is it that we seem to keep losing the culture wars? Well, perhaps, in truth, we don’t actually understand the culture! That’s not an easy thing to admit. Because understanding the culture – seeing what is really going on – is not purely an intellectual or academic exercise. It is, itself, profoundly spiritual.
What was it about the saints that enabled them to engage the world, even in the most helpless of circumstances? It was the fact that they could see “beyond”! They could see what only a profound interior life can enable you to see. And, it was for that reason, and that reason alone, they knew how to engage the culture without being captured by it, and how to glimpse the future even while standing fully in the present.
You see, one powerful reason as to why our age has lost touch with the reality of an unborn child, is that it can no longer perceive “real presence”. Even we who are of faith are not immune to this either. When we drift away from God – as we become glued to the material and lose touch with the spiritual –, our conception of “reality” becomes thinner and thinner; more virtual; digital — less human.
If people today struggle to attend to the presence of another person sitting right in front of them — preferring instead to stare at a screen – then what hope is there that they will attend to the silent, hidden presence of the unborn child?
I say again, the starting point for the future of the pro-life movement must be that this is, first and foremost a spiritual battle — the battle between perception and blindness. And we will never overcome blindness through shouting; arguing; or even through the most sophisticated scientific/philosophical reasoning.
To be “pro-life” is, thus, nothing less than a desire to reclaim reality and to help others to learn how to regain the capacity to see the truth. And what’s the only way to make that desire a reality? Prayer. Because it is the only means we have to learn how to see again.
PRESENCE vs PERFORMANCE
I said that everything flows from the starting point. If we truly believe that prayer is the foundation and the future of the pro-life movement, then what will flow from this is a change in our “presence”. It’s important to clarify what I mean by “presence”.
When we think of “having presence” in contemporary parlance, we often think of having an “aura”; an ability to attract attention. So, a simple example would be a celebrity walking into a room. The reason why they have “presence”, however, the reason why they attract attention is because we attach to them certain material achievements. But that is not true “presence”. True presence is not about aura, not about fame, not about achievements. Presence is, in fact, fruit of the interior life. It flows from communion with God. It is the quiet weight of someone whose life is rooted in prayer — the kind of presence that does not draw attention to itself but awakens in others a realisation of the presence of God.
We think, for instance, of Our Lady, pregnant with God-Incarnate, visiting her cousin, Elizabeth. Even before she heard a word of greeting, the presence of Our Lady stirred in the heart of Elizabeth an attention upon the real presence of the child in her womb. This is true presence: it is not about performance; it is about communion — it is about communicating the very reality of God – the real presence – from one person to another.
Too often, the “presence” of the pro-life movement is only felt or noticed when we become aware of a new battle: when new legislation is introduced in parliament that attacks the vulnerable or the unborn; or when election time rolls around. Often, in such circumstances, our “presence” – even if well intentioned – can risk becoming more of a “performance”. It becomes more a kind of theatre — we tend to think in optics; publicity; and dramatic gestures.
The principal issue is that it renders the pro-life movement something reactionary — and if we are reactionary then, in truth, we are quite literally reacting to a vision of evil — a vision of unreality. We must therefore be sensitive to the fact that if we give into reactionism, then all we have really done is entered into a deeper relationship with a lie. Remember, lies feed on attention, even hostile attention. Because, paradoxically, to react to darkness often means we are subtly being inspired by darkness — even if we think we are championing the cause of light with fiery rhetoric; loud protests; and intense political lobbying.
Let me reiterate: The danger here is letting our opponents set the terms. Allowing darkness to dictate our stance. A stance that we react to – and in so doing –, ironically, we are shaped by the very energy (the very vision) we are said to resist.
This bring me to what is really at the heart of what I want to say tonight: the primordial sign that we are reacting and performing rather than being led by prayer and presence is this — our presence in the world looks no different to those we oppose.
Even if our words proclaim life, our style proclaims the same logic of power. Even if what we espouse is the moral antithesis of what the pro-choice movement proclaims, our “presence” can become indistinguishable from theirs. You see, it’s not only what we stand for, but how we stand for it that reveals whether our foundation is inspired by reaction or prayer, performance or presence. Thus, we must do serious reflection — in order to ensure that our identity as individuals and as advocates of the “pro-life” movement must not be defined reductively as simply being “against” the evil of things like abortion or infanticide. Our identity and our movement cannot be something that only surfaces when challenged. Abortion did not create the pro-life stance—it only revealed the need to articulate and defend what was always true: that every presence, every life, is real, sacred, and worthy of protection.
With this in mind, then, think about what is really happening when we commit to Forty-Days for Life. What is really happening when we, inspired by the vision of life (the vision of God), stand prayerfully in front of an abortion clinic. Is this act some kind of psychological performance? A political act? Or, do you believe that something deeply spiritual is taking place? Am I convinced that God could use our humanity as a means by which to erupt even the darkest of visions? Do I believe this prayerful presence – this face of divine mercy – has the power to change hearts and minds? Does your “presence” my “presence” sign and reflect the bigger picture? That we are praying at a modern-day calvary? That the quiet prayers you offer there mingle with the cry of Christ crucified, and so carry a weight no parliament, no campaign, no protest could ever achieve?
Meaning comes not from noise; but from being transparent to God. Human action is never meaningless when it is united in, through, and by divine action.
Witness vs Power
If presence without prayer collapses into performance, then the next danger is this: mistaking performance for power. But the Church has never grown by power — only by witness. And this brings me to the third and final contrast I want to reflect on: witness vs power.
What the world often sees as powerless – quiet prayer, silent witness, sacrificial love – is in fact the way God changes the course of history. The crucifixion was not a performance; it was by no means an act of worldly power. But it was the ultimate witness to the real presence of divine love; divine truth; and divine hope. In fact, what looked like defeat became the source of eternal victory.
It is by only keeping this vision at the forefront of our minds; allowing it to be inscribed upon the heart; that we will have the grace to resist the temptation to think that the future of the pro-life movement depends on gaining political or cultural power through protest or politicking alone. The life-revealing “presence” that comes from prayer should make us witnesses to life. And this, I believe, is the decisive point: being pro-life is not a slogan, not a campaign, not even a movement in the ordinary sense. Being pro-life is a way of life — a whole vision of reality, illuminated by grace, sustained by prayer, and embodied in presence. It must touch the essence of your life.
When you familiarise yourself with the incredible history of the Catholic Church, one thing becomes abundantly clear: the Church only ever grows when her members are inspired to act (to witness) in a manner that made absolutely no sense to her enemies. When Christians lived in ways that contradicted the logic of worldly power.[3]
I think of the early Christians during times of plague. Unlike the pagans who abandoned their loved ones when they fell sick – leaving them to die alone in agony –, the Christians remained with them — even attending to the pagan stranger; nursing them; caring for them. In all this, they were witnessing to the dignity of a human life, even amidst suffering. The world could only look on with astonishment and say: “Do you see how they love?”[4]
I think of the martyrs who forgave their executioners; the saints who showed hospitality to their enemies; the confessors who proclaimed their faith to their detractors. In all such instances, the source of their vision was revealed in their witness. And, so, for us to truly help others “see,” we must first show that you and I can see — calmly, clearly, humanly.
I say again, it does not matter how good your arguments are; how loudly we might say we are against abortion or euthanasia; unless we ourselves witness to and embody the reality of a changed heart.Do our own lives reflect, attest, and witness to the infinite dignity of every human being in the way we live our lives — 24 hours a day seven days a week? I might pray outside a clinic—but do I keep regular vigil before the Real Presence? I might raise my voice for the unborn—but do I also bend my life toward the poor; make time for the elderly; take an interest in those who think differently to me?
We, as a Church, might preach against the lie that is “pro-choice”, but are we willing to spend time and money to give women the emotional and financial support they need? The dying, the love, attention, and care they deserve? Because being a witness is not something we can switch on and off when we like; it is not something we can just perform when asked. It must become the very rhythm of our lives — so that, in us, the world might glimpse a different vision of reality: one illumined by grace, sustained by prayer, and embodied in presence.
Conclusion: Future
I want to conclude by saying that the vision behind the Forty Days for Life initiative – and what it calls us to be – is something far harder (far more encompassing) than simply an act of protest.
I say again, I am not arguing that we should withdraw from debate or discussion; or abandon the very best philosophical and scientific arguments in public discourse. These things will always matter. But what I have suggested tonight is that the future of the pro-life movement cannot be built upon these things alone; because neither protest nor philosophy can heal the spiritual blindness that has become so grave and diabolical that people literally sit around a table dreaming about a world where maiming innocent babies is enshrined as a universal right.
Only prayer can heal that blindness. Because only prayer opens our eyes. Only conversion and communion restores vision. And only the divine presence makes that vision – a vision of truth and mercy – visible to others. Without prayer, presence, and authentic witness, we risk fighting blindness with more blindness. But with prayer, presence, and genuine witness we can begin to see, and help others see, the child who is truly there; the Church who truly loves them; the Christ who is truly present in the Eucharist.
