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Parish Respect
Life Activities
The primary goal of the Respect Life Program is
to create and sustain respect for human life at
every stage of its existence and in every
situation. We are working for the establishment
of a Respect Life Committee in every parish in
the Archdiocese, and to offer support, resources
and networking opportunities for those
committees. Of course, a Respect Life Committee will need
approval by their pastor before initiating any
activities for their parish.
Every month, our Office sends to the parishes
and to the parish Respect Life Committees a
newsletter with information and resources for
their pro-life activities. If you would
like to receive our monthly pro-life update via
e-mail, click
here.
As set forth in the
Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities,
there are four areas of pro-life activism:
Education,
Pastoral
Assistance,
Public
Policy Advocacy, &
Prayer
and Worship.
Also, all USCCB Respect Life Packet materials
are now available online.
http://flrl.org/respect_life_packet06.htm
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Education
Here are some ideas you can use for parish-based
pro-life educational activities, to raise
people's awareness of the dignity of human life:
- Promote High School Leadership Day and
other youth Respect Life retreats
- Initiate the Spiritual Adoption Program
in your parish, youth group. Click
here
for more information.
- Borrow a Respect Life Video from the
Family Life / Respect Life, for use at a
parish function or for your school.
- Donate Respect Life material/books to
your school library.
- Have a Respect Life speaker or panel
discussion on one or more of life’s issues.
- Keep yourself informed by reading
periodicals and church documents.
- Host a Respect Life coffeehouse.
- Increase awareness of local crisis
pregnancy centers and other organizations
that respect life. For a list of these
centers and other maternity services, click
here.
- Invite a Chastity speaker to your
parish, to speak to
parents, religious education and youth groups. (You can
contact the Respect Life Office or
Love
for Life for ideas
for speakers)
- Donate materials and speakers to a
school.
- Wear a pro-life symbol such as a rose or
precious feet pin.
- Set up a literature table or bulletin
board near an entrance to your parish
containing literature on life’s issues.
- Distribute church documents, and
Bishops’ statements.
- Publish bulletin announcements with
Respect Life facts.
- Place an advertisement or letter to the
editor in the local newspaper.
- Hold a Mother’s Day Rose/Flower
sale.
- Help organize and promote Family and
Marriage Enrichment Programs and retreats.
- Insert flyers in your parish bulletin.
- Dedicate a memorial or shrine to the
unborn in your parish. Click
here for a sample dedication service.
- Include Respect Life materials in
materials for new parishioners.
- Co-host an essay contest with your
parish school.
- Sponsor a child development display at
parish events.
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Pastoral
Assistance
As a Church, we are also called to serve the
Gospel of Life through pastoral programs.
Here are some ideas:
- Familiarize yourself and your parish
with Post Abortion Syndrome and the
Entering Canaan Post-Abortion Healing
Program, and promote these healing
retreats. Click
here for
more information.
- Sponsor an Advent Tree/Giving Tree,
and collect gifts for a local pregnancy
center or for persons in assisted living
situations.
- Host a Baby Shower - At any time,
you may wrap presents for unborn babies
and donate these gifts to a crisis
pregnancy center or other agency.
- Have a Respect Life Christmas card
sale.
- Volunteer at a Food Pantry or hold
Food Collections for the needy.
- Provide transportation for persons
with special needs and/or companionship
to those who are homebound.
- Recruit volunteers for a local
crisis pregnancy center.
- Host a flea market, breakfast or
spaghetti dinner to benefit a respect
life cause.
- Co-host a walk/run for life to
support a local crisis pregnancy center
or assisted living home.
- Assist or donate to a shelter for
persons living with AIDS.
- Host an awareness day for persons
with disabilities.
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Public
Policy Advocacy
Advocacy for change in our law is
also an integral part of a parish's
pro-life mission. Here are some
suggestions:
- Promote and join the
Catholic Advocacy Network, which
uses the internet and email to
mobilize the faithful on crucial
issues.
- Conduct letter writing campaigns
or petition drives in response to
public policy issues.
- Have a list of e-mail addresses
and phone numbers of persons who are
interested in participating in
advocacy efforts.
- Sponsor a voter registration
drive in the parish, school or
community.
- Encourage everyone 18 years of
age to become informed about Respect
Life issues and to vote.
- Write letters to the editors of
local newspapers on pro-life issues.
- Participate in the Annual March
for Life in Washington, D.C.
Click
here for details.
For more information about public
policy advocacy, click
here.
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Prayer
and Worship
The most important part of the
pro-life cause is spiritual activism
-- celebrating the Gospel of life in
our prayer and worship. Here
are some ideas:
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Pro-Life Links
Check out these
links
to other pro-life organizations.
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Roe vs. Wade Roe v. Wade is the 1973 Supreme Court case which
struck down existing state laws nationwide that
had heretofore made abortion illegal. Roe v.
Wade effectively legalized abortion throughout a
woman's 9 month's of pregnancy. While the legal
validity of Roe v. Wade has always been
considered questionable by those in defense of
the sacredness of human life, in recent years
this case has come under considerable scrutiny
and criticism from the general public and
influential media outlets.
For more information:
The USCCB’s New “Second Look” Educational
Project
www.secondlookproject.org . For 15 weeks over the
past months the USCCB has been engaged in a
highly effective national education campaign,
providing facts vs. myths about the Supreme
Court decisions that legalized abortion
nationwide, to members of Congress, the media,
and other key public interest groups. No doubt
this campaign is responsible, in part, for the
shifting public concern that’s beginning to
undermine support for the original Roe v. Wade
decision.
The USSCB has now created an 8-page Roe Reality
Booklet
Roe Reality Check summary of the 15-wk series for
distribution to every parish, student, &
community group throughout the country,
especially during the Roe anniversary month of
January. The Archdiocese of New York Respect
Life Office is strongly encouraging the
distribution of these Roe Reality Checks in
every forum throughout the diocese. A sample Roe
Reality Check booklet & order form, as well as
other excellent resources and individual
facts/myths regarding Roe v.Wade can be found
online at
USCCB's site for free download &
distribution.
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March For Life 2008
The March for Life in Washington D.C. began as a
grassroots response of pro-lifers nationwide to
Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision
legalizing abortion throughout the 9 months of a
woman's pregnancy. Each year, inspired by the
Holy Spirit’s gift of Reverence, Catholics and
all people of good will come together to pray
and publicly intercede on behalf of the unborn,
their parents, families, our communities, our
nation and its leaders - that this prayerful
presence may open hearts, minds, souls to the
fullness of the Gospel of Life in our lives and
laws.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
has declared that in all the dioceses of the
United States of America, January 22nd shall be
observed as a particular day of penance for
violations to the dignity of the human person
committed through acts of abortion, and of
prayer for the full restoration of the legal
guarantee of the right to life.
The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 22 of the
"Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated
with violet vestments as an appropriate
liturgical observance for this day. (General
Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373)
Today the priest has a choice between several
different readings. He may preach on the
Readings of the Day, or one of the sets of
readings from the Mass for Peace and Justice.
It has truly evolved into a Pilgrimage of
intercessory prayer and public witness for all
those victimized by the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme
Court decision legalizing abortion; and for the
conversion of those who misguidedly perpetuate
it. Young and old from all walks of life and
from every part of the country rally together
and march down Constitution Ave., stopping at
legislative offices along route and ending at
the steps of the Supreme Court.
Over the years, several additional pro-life
conferences, pro-life vigils, and Masses have
come to surround the main event of the March
itself in DC., spread throughout the days
preceding the actual March, including special
events for youth, young adults, and college
students.
For more information:
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212.371.1011 x3192
