The U.S. Catholic Bishops instituted the Respect Life Program in 1972 to focus attention on the breakdown of moral, social, and civil structures supporting human life in America. In 1975, the bishops adopted a Pastoral Plan for Pro-life Activities which urges the activation of the pastoral resources of the Church in four specific areas: Spiritual, Education/Public Information, Pastoral Care, and Legislative/Public Policy.

Upcoming Activities

Respect Life Mass
Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
January 22, 2021  |  10:30 a.m.

The annual Respect Life Mass will be Friday, January 22, 2021, 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral.  Bishop Robert J. Brennan will be the main celebrant.  On this day of the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, our diocese will join all dioceses of the United States in observing a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.  The Mass will be livestreamed on the Diocese of Columbus YouTube Channel and on St. Gabriel Catholic Radio, www.stgabrielradio.com.   For more information contact the diocesan Office for Social Concerns at  socmailbox@columbuscatholic.org or 614-241-2540.

Roe Remembrance at the Ohio Statehouse
January 22, 2021  |   Noon

Greater Columbus Right to Life will sponsor this annual event on Friday, January 22, 2021, from Noon to 1 p.m., following the 10:30 a.m. Respect Life Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral.  The Roe Remembrance will be held outside on the Ohio Statehouse lawn.  It also will be livestreamed.  For updates, visit www.gcrtl.org/roe.   

9 Days for Life will take place Thursday, January 21 - Friday, January 29.  9 Days for Life is a multi-faceted novena for the respect and protection of human life.  Each day, a different intention is accompanied by a short reflection, suggested actions, and related information.  Sign up to receive the novena by email, text, message, or an app, CLICK HERE.   For a leaders resource which includes the printed novena,  CLICK HERE.  

January Action Guide
Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

This USCCB provides a full January action guide: an introduction, "Simple Steps," a sample timeline, sample announcements, sample intercessions, homily helps, and a sample activity.  Visit https://www.respectlife.org/action-guides

Catholic Schools + January Opportunities

Share this special Respect Life webpage with Catholic educators, https://bit.ly/january-virtual-2021.  In addition to information on national virtual efforts, a resources sheet gives ideas for implementing USCCB Respect Life tools in the Catholic educational setting in January.

National Prayer Vigil for Life

Livestream January 28-29, 2021, from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC.  Also televised by EWTN.  https://www.usccb.org/prolife/national-prayer-vigil-life-schedule


Youth Rally and Mass for Life

Livestream from Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2021, begins at 8:30 a.m.  Visit https://youthrallyandmassforlife.org.


March for Life

The annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, DC, will be livestreamed.  The rally takes place from 12:00 to 1:15 p.m., with the pre-rally concert beginning at 11:00 a.m.  To sign up for the livestream, visit https://p2a.co/BIa5nXt.

Bulletin Insert of January Events and Opportunities

The 25th anniversary year of Evangelium vitae gives us a wonderful opportunity to assess, expand, and communicate resources to pregnant moms and families in need. We are inviting parishes to join a nationwide effort entitled: “Walking with Moms in Need: A Year of Service.”

Take the pledge.
Find Resources.
 

Bishop Brennan's Letter on Walking With Moms In Need:  A Year of Service

Watch the Video:  Walking with Moms in Need

Monthly Prayer Guide





Converging Roads Conference
Health Care and Human Dignity  

Saturday, April 24, 2021, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus

PRESENTATION TOPICS

Ordinary, Extraordinary, and Futile:
What is the Difference and What Difference Does it Make?
Elliott Bedford, PhD
 
Medicine and Morals in Making Clinical Decisions
Greg Burke, MD, FACP
 
Rights of Physicians: How to Bring Your Faith and Ethics into Medicine
Ashley K. Fernandes, MD, PhD
 
Addiction and the Opioid Crisis: Treating the Whole Person
Cynthia Hunt, MD

The Catholic Healthcare Professional in a Secular Society
Thomas W. McGovern, MD
 
Accompanying Children in the Womb and at the End of Life
Robin Pierucci, MD, MA
 
Access to Health Care for the Poor
Claudia R. Sotomayor, MD, DBe

Continuing education credits for healthcare professionals will be offered. Presented by the St. John Paul II Foundation, Catholic Diocese of Columbus, The Catholic Medical Association of Central Ohio.

BUILDING A CULTURE OF LIFE SERIES
RESPECT LIFE, BIOETHICS, AND LEADERSHIP

RESPECT LIFE MONTH, OCTOBER 2020

Join us for recorded segments of an extraordinary virtual series featuring dynamic speakers and offering resources to equip you to build a culture of life.

FEATURED TOPICS:

Raising the Next Pro-Life Generation
Parents, ministry leaders, and health professionals will share tips for what, how, and when parents should have conversations with their children about Pro-Life issues.

Walking with Moms in Need:  A Year of Service
The Walking with Moms in Need program provides in-depth materials to equip churches to accompany and support local pregnant/parenting women and their families.

Making End of Life Decisions
Learn more about a new resource to help you and your family with end of life decision-making in keeping with our values to respect the sacredness and dignity of human life.

Mass Celebrated by Bishop Robert J. Brennan
Bishop Brennan will celebrate a Respect Life Month Mass and preach how we are called to accompany those in need and build a culture of life.

For more details about programs and speakers, please visit our website.

Watch recorded segments online at www.bclc.life.

PRESENTED BY:
Greater Columbus Right to Life
Diocese of Columbus
                Office for Social Concerns
                Marriage & Family Life Office

The Gospel of Life:

Evangelium Vitae 25 Years Later
 

Online resources are available to celebrate the 25th anniversary to help you build a culture of life.

We encourage people to make use of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ online resources about the 25^th anniversary of Evangelium Vitae at  https://www.respectlife.org/gospel-of-life.   

October is Respect Life Month

Respect Life Month is October and Respect Life Sunday is October 4^th.  Live the Gospel of Life:  to imitate Christ and follow in his footsteps is the theme of this year’s Respect Life Program.  The USCCB Respect Life Program includes timely articles in the form of bulletin inserts, posters, and prayer and worship resources.

For resources to promote the dignity of human life, visit:

www.respectlife.org

Need Help?  Find Loving Support

Think you might be pregnant?  Scared?  Have questions?  There's help.  Option Line - Pregnancy Help Online.  Visit www.optionline.org or call toll free 1-800-712-4357 or Text “HELPLINE” to 313131.

Had an abortion?  Bethesda Healing Ministry is a Catholic Christian Ministry of hospitality and healing. Through a community of love and acceptance, all men and women suffering the effects of an abortion are invited and supported.  Please call 614-309-0157 to speak confidentially with a caring and loving advocate.  For more information visit https://www.bethesdahealing.org. 
 

Additional Ways You Can Respect Life

40 Days for Life    Faithful believers are praying that this effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in America.  This peaceful prayer vigil will take place at an abortion facility in Columbus.  Participants are asked to volunteer for one-hour shifts and sign a statement of peace.  For details and to sign up for a time, visit www.gcrtl.org/40-days-for-life.html or call 614-445-8508.

Bottoms Up Diaper Drive   This October, help your parishioners recognize that being pro-life is about caring.  It’s about helping.  It’s about charity.  Hold a diaper drive for Bottoms Up Diaper Drive and they’ll make sure that the diapers that the parishioners collect get to those most in need.  To get started, call, text, or email Jo Welsh at 740-808-6131 or email jo@bottomsup.life.  FLYER

Support your local pregnancy help center.  Visit Heartbeat International's Option Line locator for a pregnancy help center near you. https://optionline.org/center-locator.

Knights of Columbus Ultrasound Program  Save lives by helping women choose life by giving them the opportunity to view their unborn children on ultrasound machines at pro-life pregnancy centers. This initiative is funded by Knights of Columbus state and local councils with matching grants from the Supreme Council’s Culture of Life Fund.

Mass of Inclusion for People with Special Needs.  Fall Date To Be Announced.  Open to all in the diocese, the Mass will celebrate the unique gifts of those with physical and mental disabilities as well as caretakers. Sponsored by S.P.I.C.E. (Special People in Catholic Education).
 
March is Developmental Disability Month For resources on how to build greater inclusion of persons with disabilities in the life of the Church and society, go to www.columbuscatholic.org/persons-with-disabilities.
 
Death Penalty Q & A  USCCB has produced a new handout about Church teaching on the Death Penalty.  Use this handout to build a culture of life, CLICK HERE.
 
The Feast of St. Francis Program addresses the threats to human ecology and natural ecology – integral ecology. The cry of the poor and the cry of the earth is all connected, visit www.catholicclimatecovenant.org/program/feast-st-francis.

End of life Issues.   Learn about what the Church teaches about euthanasia and assisted suicide.  Resources:
Catholic Conference of Ohio
National Catholic Bioethics Center
NCBC Catholic Guide to End of Life Decisions
 

Issues

Abortion
Post Abortion and Reconciliation and Healing
Infanticide
Bioethics and Reproductive Technologies
Human Cloning
Stem Cell Research
Human Trafficking
Racism
Sexual Integrity - Addressing Pornography Addiction
Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide
Death Penalty
Vaccines

For other issues related to the dignity of the human person, visit our other pages on the Office for Social Concerns website.

 

Resources

Resources about the above topics:
Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities - USCCB
Catholic Conference of Ohio - Issues

Diocesan Respect Life Program

The Office for Social Concerns serves to implement components of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Respect Life Program. Office staff research, identify, and analyze life issues within the context of Catholic social teaching to determine the impact of issues and to formulate an effective response. Office staff also serve to initiate and develop programs that assist parishes, schools, and organizations in identifying their own respect life needs and aids to formulate an effective response. The Office for Social Concerns provides education, information, leadership training, and community building opportunities for parish leaders.

Respect Life Program Implementation
The Office for Social Concerns serves as a liaison to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro-life Activities.

The Respect Life Program:

• Promotes efforts during Respect Life Month (October). Respect Life Sunday is the 1st  Sunday of October; 
• Promotes  The Catholic Times Respect Life Issues during Respect Life Month; 
• Works with parish Respect Life Coordinators; 
• Sponsors a 10:30 a.m. Mass on January 22, at St. Jospeh Cathedral, Columbus, with the Bishop on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion in the United States; 
• Conducts an annual Diocesan Respect Life Conference.
• Sponsors an annual Diocesan Senior Citizens' Celebration during the month of June.  The bishop serves as celebrant for the Mass. A luncheon follows.