I first became actively involved in prolife work 31 years ago &endash; two years after Britain's 1967 Abortion Act came into operation. We called our new organisation 'LIFE'. The word 'prolife' had not yet been invented. We honestly believed that the pro-abortion lobby's victory in 1967 would not prove catastrophic and that our combination of prolife political, educational and caring work would halt its advance and even result in its defeat perhaps in our own lifetime. After all, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and Royal College of Nursing had both opposed the Act, Parliament and the public had been assured that the Act would not open the floodgates, most British Christians and Jews were instinctively prolife. Despite the fact that the 'sexual revolution' was already happening, our culture was still apparently rooted in its traditional values. So we prolifers believed that we could work within that culture to defeat the attack on those values. I believe that, as the prolife movement developed in other countries &endash; in Europe, the Americas, Australasia and elsewhere - there was similar expectation, a similar belief.

I must guard against excessive pessimism. Things are not as bad as they might have been. The prolife movement has much to be proud of. But we have nonetheless gone from bad to worse. We have been engulfed by abortionism. We have witnessed the relentless attack on chastity and marriage, and the ever more disgraceful sexualisation and exploitation by the sex industry of young people. We have witnessed the assault on the natural order of procreation by IVF and other forms of assisted conception, which in turn has resulted in further mass destruction and trivialisation of human life. The revolution in biotechnology is now upon us. The British Parliament has given its assent to human cloning. The euthanasia lobby attacks remorselessly. And so on. I need not say any more, because you are all familiar with what has been happening.

But there is one aspect of all this that I must pursue. What we have been witnessing has both caused and been largely made possible by the corruption of much of the medical profession. Obstetrics has been disastrously undermined. Paediatrics is under siege. Geriatrics is being invaded. The nursing profession has long since collapsed. A few weeks ago Britain's Royal Pharmaceutical Society withdrew the right of its members to opt out of supplying abortifacient drugs across the counter and effectively made prolife pharmacists unemployable.

Nor is it just the medical and allied professions which have been corrupted. In most Western countries it is now almost impossible for prolifers to receive justice in courts of law. In most Western societies the teaching professions &endash; hence most of our schools and universities &endash; have also lost their way, morally speaking. Most non-Catholic church leaders (except Evangelical Protestants) have succumbed to the Culture of Death; some have been its most vigorous allies. Only Catholics and Moslems &endash; with Sikhs and some Jews - have stood out against it. In short, our society has largely been engulfed by the neo-paganism of hedonism, contraceptionism, abortionism, eugenics.

All this leads me to the following conclusion. We can no longer work within the established culture, the Establishment, in the hope of converting it. The task is much more daunting than we once assumed. We have to create a prolife counter-culture &endash; an exemplary alternative to the prevailing culture of today's secular society, proclaiming and institutionalising the Gospel of Life over and against what the world provides.

Such a counter-culture must be a comprehensive one and respond to all the anti-life forces wherever they appear. But as far as the medical professions are concerned it is not enough that prolife movements should give support to the dwindling number of prolife doctors (and nurses), as, of course, they do. This will not do much to avert the following threefold crisis: first, as we have been told more than once, the number of prolife obstetricians is declining so fast that they are becoming an almost extinct breed; secondly, it is increasingly difficult for young prolifers even to enter the medical professions, let alone to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology; thirdly, it is becoming increasingly difficult for prolife couples to receive treatment from doctors and nurses whose hands are clean.

So what are we to do? We have to create an alternative, prolife medical profession consisting of doctors and nurses (and pharmacists) who are both professionally excellent and committed to upholding the utmost respect for human life from its beginning (fertilisation) to its natural end. They will be trained in the Culture of Life to know that abortion can never be the just and loving response to any crisis pregnancy, however urgent the situation. They will know that the preborn child is as much a doctor's patient as his/her mother. They will know that the natural way of managing fertility is a truly human, body-friendly and eco-friendly way, and they will promote it enthusiastically. They will know that IVF and other forms of assisted conception are simply not good medicine and that the prolife alternative developed by Dr Hilgers in the USA, for example, is the right way of treating the growing problem of infertility, not least because, as well as protecting the integrity of the conjugal act, it cures diseases rather than bypasses them. They will recognise special-needs children as especially precious patients &endash; to be cherished and protected, and their diseases conquered. They will practice and promote the latest achievements in palliative medicine, knowing that the last days should not be 'lost' days and that we all ought to be able to end our earthly lives confident that extraordinary means will not be taken to prolong our lives and nothing done deliberately to get rid of us. In short, they will be inspired by the Gospel of Life.

What will this require in practice? It will require a network of prolife teaching hospitals whose staff and students are absolutely committed to the Gospel of Life and which will provide first-class specialist training in prolife obstetrics, paediatrics and geriatrics. We also need first-class prolife research into genetics and gene therapy, pain control, fertility issues, stem cell therapy &endash; that is, prolife research in all those areas where crucial bioethical issues are at stake. We need a network of dependent prolife hospitals, hospices and clinics which will provide full career structures for prolife doctors, nurses and pharmacists, and make their services available to what will surely be an increasing number of patients.

This alternative medical structure will require unimpeachable validation. We will need an international prolife award-making body. We have to set up alternatives to the Royal and American Colleges of O & G, for instance, to oversee and validate training in the various specialisms. Perhaps we need a single International College of Prolife Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, a single International College of Prolife Nurses, a single International College of Prolife Pharmacists, etc &endash; all with dependent national colleges?

I dream dreams. How on earth could any, let alone all, of this become a reality?

Thank Heaven, there are still some Catholic hospitals, out of the hundreds which once flourished, where the Gospel of Life is still honoured. There are heroic remnants of religious orders dedicated to medical missionary work. There are equally heroic lay doctors and nurses who have remained loyal &endash; a dwindling remnant well represented at the Conference &endash; who can provide inspiration and leadership for the necessary revival. There are a growing number of initiatives around the world, most bearing the name of Popes Paul VI or John Paul II &endash; not to mention MaterCare International - that are already responding to the challenge which I have been describing. Forgive me if I also mention the two LIFE Health Centres in England &endash; one in Liverpool, the other soon to open in the North-East &endash; and the LIFE Fertility Clinic which has just opened in London, which provide the prolife alternative to IVF (based on Dr Thomas Hilgers' NaPro Technology) and also run the first hospice for special-needs children aged 0 to 4 in the UK, probably the world.

In other words, there are many promising things happening all round us. Some of the parts which will be required to make up the whole are as yet at the embryonic stage; others are more fully developed. Prolife organisations throughout the world would rally behind the programme which I have been sketching and give it moral and material support. Material support that, alas, is crucial. I believe that sympathetic individuals and foundations would also help generously &endash; if persuaded of the paramount importance of turning our dreams into reality and if there was a serious chance that this would happen. There are still a lot of wealthy prolife individuals; but they are hard-nosed realists.

There is another, even more important, source of help. Ultimately only the Catholic Church can make possible the major prolife achievement of which I have been speaking. By this I mean two things. First, we will succeed only if, inspired by Rome, our bishops throughout the world share our vision and are equally enthusiastic about it. Secondly, we need major material help from those religious orders which, having fulfilled their historic role, are now in decline. Many of them have extensive possessions and endowments &endash; the fruit of pious generosity over many generations &endash; which could now be used to serve the supreme cause of our time, the prolife cause.

I speak from an English perspective, but I believe that what is true of my country is true of much of the Western world, namely, that we are witnessing a second 'dissolution of the monasteries', as a large proportion of the religious orders (there are 225, male and female, in Britain alone) face near-extinction in the next twenty years or so because of the decline in vocations. This provides a momentous opportunity to serve the Lord by re-distributing, re-dedicating (forgive me if I say re-cycling) resources for the benefit of the prolife cause &endash; and others.

I mentioned the two LIFE Health Centres in England. Both buildings belong to the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, who have handed them over to us, thereby entrusting their future apostolate to the prolife movement, since declining numbers prevent them from responding themselves to the new challenges. These generous and enlightened sisters (no doubt there are other congregations which have done likewise) set an example which, one would hope, others will follow. The Catholic community, especially religious orders in the Western world, have enormous resources. Much is already being directed towards developing countries and other good works &endash; and I would not for a moment want to hinder this. My point is simply that, as the decline of many orders accelerates, an enormous amount of new wealth &endash; in land and buildings as well as cash &endash; will be dispersed. This dispersal must not simply 'happen'. There must be some plan, some strategy. That strategy must recognise the urgency of the prolife cause and the need to create a prolife counter-culture. I would hope that all national Conferences of major religious superiors and national Conferences of bishops would come together to plan and direct agreed policies. I hope that decisive leadership can be given by the Congregation here in Rome which we used to call the Congregation for the Religious but is now known as the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Though the proposed alternative health service will be the centre piece of a prolife counter-culture, there will be much more to be achieved. We look to the day when prolife lawyers, for instance, are winning the battle to secure the full protection of the law for all human life from fertilisation onward, when the abstinence programme is flourishing among the young, when prolife feminists have silenced their opponents, when prolife investment matters to the world's financial markets, when pharmaceutical companies are in awe of prolife opinion, when major banks and businesses boast of being prolife, when governments of developing countries reject the anti-life neo-colonialism imposed on them via the United Nations and Western aid programmes. Remember how the Greens started? They were voices crying in the wilderness, a true counter-culture. But we are all 'green' now!

So in calling for the creation of a prolife counter-culture I am not advocating any ghettoism, that is, a withdrawal and turning away from the world. On the contrary. What I propose will be a sign of contradiction, a light on the hill, yeast that leavens the batch, an irresistible challenge to the world. It will convert the world. It is the only way to convert it. The counter-culture will then become the prevailing culture.

But to return to my specific topic &endash;rescuing the medical profession, especially obstetrics: how do we begin? The first steps are always the most difficult ones. It is not yet too late to attempt them. It soon may be.

Maybe many others, especially members of FIAMC and MaterCare International, have already done much more thinking about these matters than I. Also, as I have said, I am conscious that there are lucky parts of the world where Catholic hospitals survive and even flourish. In part, therefore, we have to begin simply by bringing things together, mobilising existing resources, pooling knowledge. But I dare to make the following precise proposals.

First, the worldwide prolife movement must publicly acknowledge that that programme which I have been describing is indeed its goal. Secondly, we must ask Rome publicly to endorse that programme and to promote it in every way, especially through the relevant Congregations. Next, prolifers in those countries where there is most urgent need (the United Kingdom, for instance) must commit themselves to establishing their first prolife teaching hospitals. This will require much help from countries like Spain, Italy, and Ireland where, I believe, a much larger proportion of the medical profession has remained loyal to their highest ethical standards than is the case in the rest of the Western world. These ventures will succeed only if they receive maximum support from Catholic individuals, the religious and hierarchies, though we must also remember that Islam and Sikhism are strongly prolife and have already proved themselves powerful allies. Next, I would ask you to help answer this question: how would we best set about establishing the validating body which would award the degrees and later the bodies which would oversee training in the key specialisms? Finally, may I ask how many of you would be willing and able to be actively engaged in promoting this programme?

But perhaps I am jumping the gun. What I have just been saying &endash; and especially those last two questions &endash; presumes that you accept my premise, namely, that the global struggle between the Culture of Death and the Gospel of Life which now dominates our times requires a profound re-thinking of what it is to be prolife.