Won’t you join us in our effort? Read about the mission we all share as Catholics and about the role of the Respect Life Committee here at Holy Ghost. As Catholics, we have a moral and ethical responsibility to protect the sanctity of life. The world has become a highly complex society. Many pro-life issues become obscured by this complexity, both at political and medical levels. We need to guard against complacency in the face of this challenge. A good place to start is to educate yourself on pro-life issues and on your Catholic responsibility to promote life. Listed below are a few of the many resources available to you to help you learn more.
Mission Statement
We, the Respect Life Committee of Holy Ghost Church, humbly accept our mission “to affirm that human life is a precious gift from God; hat each person who receives this gift has responsibilities toward God, toward self and toward others; and that society, through its lawas and social institutions, must protect and sustain human life at every stage of its existence”. These convictions grow out of our Church’s constatnt witness that “life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception'” (Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Reaffirmation, NCCB, 4).The Committee’s main purpose is to make parishioners more aware of pro-life issues and needs, and to recruit volunteers to help meet those needs. In order to accomplish this goal the committee wll wor to:
- Promote a public information and education effort to all groups within the parish to deepen understanding of the humanit of the unborn, the sanctity of human life, the moral evil of abortion and the consistent efforts of the Church to witness on behalf of all human life.
- Promote an assist pregnancy counseling and comprehensive maternity support services, as well as post-abortion counselfing and reconciliation programs; and
- foster public awareness of the need for a constitutional amendment and other laws and policies to restore legal protection to the unborn.
We dedicate our committee to fulfill this mission under the loving patronage of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Learn more about Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas at http://sancta.org.Pro-Life WebsitesThere are numerous websites available that offer resources on pro-life issues. Visit our “Links” page for a few good sites.Online Church DocumentsThere exists a vast amount of information available on pro-life issues on the Web. We will try to provide a more comprehensive topic list in the future so that all the issues have representation here. However, for the present moment, following is a short list to get you started.
- Humanae Vitae (On The Regulation Of Birth), Pope John Paul II http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P6HUMANA.HTM
- Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/JP2EVANG.HTM
- Abortion and the Supreme Court,National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life office,on abortion and court decisions in the United States http://www.ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/ZCLTDTH.HTM
- Embryo Reduction http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCFEMBRE.HTM
- The Defence of Life in the Context of International Policies and Norms, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran http://www.ewtn.com/library/ISSUES/DOFINTPN.HTM
- Donna’s Story: A Victim of Legalized Abortion http://www.nffllp.org/donna’s_.htm
Holy Ghost Catholic Library
A new parish library is currently being established in the parish hall at Holy Ghost. Adult and children’s books, audiocassettes, and videocassettes will be available for loan/check-out soon. We will post a current list of titles in this location as soon as they are available. Other Informational ResourcesNCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities3211 4th Street NEWashington, DC 20017-11941-202-541-3070Write or call for subscriptions to their two publications Life at Risk (Euthanasia Trends in America) and Life Insight.
Prayers For Life
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us… We can all do our part with prayer. It is free, it is simple, and it is powerful. Join us by praying one Hail Mary each day for an end to abortion and for a greater respect of human life.