EXCLUSIVE: Catholic bishops respond to Amnesty International including them on ‘anti-rights’ list

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales in an email to LifeSiteNews defended the Church for upholding the 'God-given rights' and dignity of all people 'from conception to natural death.'

(LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) defended its efforts protecting the “God-given rights” of the unborn and all humanity after Amnesty International UK included it on a list of “anti-rights” organizations that threaten the UK. In a July 14 email to LifeSiteNews responding to its inclusion on Amnesty International’s report entitled “A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK,” the CBCEW defended its work and that of the Catholic Church in upholding the “God-given rights” and dignity of all people “from conception to natural death” as well as its support for freedom of conscience.

Amnesty International’s since-deleted report, which also listed the Catholic Herald, Right to Life UK, Centre for Bioethical Reform UK (CBR UK), and several pro-life and Christian organizations as “anti-rights” organizations due to their advocacy for the unborn and defense of traditional marriage and “gender identity.” It seems Amnesty International UK is sending out a generic reply to those complaining about being described as “anti-rights”, signed by chief exec Kerry Moscogiuri and including her pronouns (she, her, hers). It’s not going down well.

pic.twitter.com/2vDbm6zjCq — Gethin Chamberlain (@newsandpics) July 14, 2026 The report also decried the recent “significant decline” in the protection of so-called “LGBT+ rights” and the growth of the “gender-critical movement” in Britain and called for all groups listed to be stripped of their official charitable status. “The Catholic Church works to uphold the God-given rights of all humanity, without exception,” the Bishops’ Conference told LifeSite.

“This includes the rights of those unjustly imprisoned, of refugees and migrants, of those who have been trafficked, and the right to life of all people from conception to natural death.” “Furthermore, we uphold the right to freedom of religion, conscience and expression as explained in the document of the Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis Humanae,” the conference added. “Our belief in the dignity of every person, from which a proper understanding of human rights comes, animates all our work in the field of social justice in England and Wales.”

As reported Monday by LifeSite’s Jonathon Van Maren, Amnesty International’s list includes 49 “gender-critical” groups; 25 pro-life groups (including 13 crisis pregnancy centers); 11 groups under the label “conversion practices”; 12 “Christian right policy/advocacy” groups; and then an all-encompassing “Other” category. The report notably cites pregnancy care centers seeking to help women in crisis pregnancies, as opposed to allowing women to murder their child, and even includes the Labour Women’s Declaration, a left-wing feminist group that opposes the transgender agenda on its list. The Catholic Church has consistently condemned abortion, the murder of innocent unborn children, as a “moral evil” in all circumstances.

Despite the report’s chilling call for the official charitable status of each charitable pro-life and Christian organization listed to be removed, several of Amnesty International’s “key findings” are encouraging. They observe that the so-called “gender-critical movement” in the UK that opposes gender ideology “is growing,” with 60 percent of these groups having “emerged since 2017.” The Catholic Church also teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law” and that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.”

The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity.” Catholic teaching also condemns bodily mutilation and sterilization as “against the moral law” and denounces gender ideology. Amnesty International also noted that the 117 groups listed in their report have spent “£144 million between 2019 and 2024, an increase of 47%,” and that “the biggest spenders are ultra-conservative Christian policy and advocacy organizations,” followed by “UK branches of U.S. groups and anti-abortion organizations.”

They further report that the groups are “geographically widespread and not concentrated in London.” Amnesty International UK responded to several complaints about its report by apologizing for uploading it on its website “without going through the established internal review processes.” The organization reaffirmed its commitment to defend women’s (abortion) “rights” as well as “trans rights” but appeared to vaguely suggest it was wrong to single out certain communities.

It’s worth noting that despite Amnesty International’s current hostility toward Catholics, its founder, Peter Benenson, was a devout Catholic convert whose faith inspired his founding the organization to defend Catholic and other “prisoners of conscience” across the globe.