The Diocese of Leiria-Fatima has launched a new service for its faithful, divided into the areas of social pastoral care, health and family, “to support women facing difficulties in fulfilling their dream to become mothers”. The initiative, which will be co-ordinated by the Diocesan Caritas, was initiated by midwife Élia Santiago after “a study had shown that many women undergoing termination of pregnancy do not have the means to provide for the child in their womb”. In announcing the new service, the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Mgr. António Marto, decried the “culture of indifference characterising the current society, which leads to ignoring the plight of those women who are going through great economic hardship and are striving to give birth to a child. For many of them, the only alternative to these miserable conditions is abortion”. For this reason, the project in support of “difficult maternity” set up by the Diocese of Leiria-Fatima is aimed at “reinforcing the need to assist pregnant women in the best possible way, bearing in mind their personal, family, economic and social conditions”.