October is Respect Life Month
Each October the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provides resources to help parishes, schools, families, ministries, and individual Catholics share the Gospel of Life during Respect Life Month and throughout the year. In the following pages, you will find a number of resources to help you celebrate Respect Life Month. Sample timelines, homily helps, announcements, activities, and more are provided to help you get started. You are encouraged to adapt these resources as needed to fit your specific parish, school, or ministry.
Click here for Respect Life Month resources.
Physician Assisted Suicide is Wrong for Delaware
Once again, a so-called “End of Life Options Act,” that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in Delaware has been introduced. This time it’s called “HB 140 –The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law.” Efforts on the part of the Catholic community, other faith groups, the Medical Society of Delaware, the Delaware Health Care Association, and advocates for persons with disabilities, kept this legislation from becoming law in 2017 and 2018. We need to do so again this year, and are asking for your help.
Visit www.cdow.org/StopAssistedSuicide for info and to contact your legislator!
“This Legislation is Evil, Pure and Simple,” Says Chairman of U.S. Bishops’ Pro-Life Activities Committee; Calls All Catholics to Fight with Renewed Vigor for Unborn
February 2, 2019
WASHINGTON—Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, KS and Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities has issued the following statement in response to several states moving forward with legislation that would permit a baby to be aborted at nine months.
Archbishop Naumann’s full statement follows:
“Abortion has always been built on a lie. Today, the lie is switching from ’abortion is a choice’ to ’abortion is healthcare.’ A law recently passed in New York not only legalizes abortion essentially for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy but removes any protection for children born alive after abortion. A similar bill was proposed in Virginia along with several other states, all in the name of women’s health.
This legislation is evil, pure and simple. And it shocks the conscience to see such evil legislation greeted with raucous cheers and standing ovations. Most grieving to our Lord of Life is that those who advocate for abortion put their eternal souls in jeopardy.
It is sickeningly dishonest to claim that women’s lives or health depend on intentionally killing their children. This is especially true for late-term abortion, which always involves the purposeful destruction of a child which could have been born alive, with much less risk to the mother, had they both received real healthcare.
Now is the time for all Catholics—bishops, priests, and laity—to fight for the unborn with renewed vigor. We must educate family, friends, legislators, and fellow citizens about how it is never necessary to intentionally kill unborn children in order to save their mothers. Local action is especially important. Though ending Roe v. Wade is a central goal of the pro-life movement, if the decision were overturned, only eleven states would immediately ban abortion; the other thirty-nine states would still allow it.
I urge Catholics, and thoughtful Americans of all religions or none at all to advocate for local change. Sign up for your State Catholic Conference or diocesan pro-life advocacy network, which can help you communicate to elected officials. Or seek out state and local pro-life groups, including parish respect life groups, that are making a difference at the state level.
Though we live in very dark days, we know that the Lord has already triumphed over death. But we must use this time on earth to be His hands and feet. This means each of us rededicating ourselves to prayer, and fighting for the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children and their mothers.”
Office for Pro Life Activities and Respect Life Committee
Rev. Leonard R. Klein
Diocese of Wilmington
PO Box 2030
Wilmington, DE 19899-2030
(302) 295-0626
[email protected]
Once again next year, proponents of assisted suicide will likely try to legalize this dangerous practice in Delaware and Maryland, putting some of our most vulnerable at risk and devaluing the sanctity of human life because of age, illness, or disability. The Diocese of Wilmingtons Office for Pro Life Activities is actively engaged with others in Delaware and Maryland to oppose PAS legislation. What can you do? Be sure to sign up for the latest legislative updates and alerts provided by the Delaware Catholic Advocacy Network at www.cdow.org/DCAN or the Maryland Catholic Conference at www.mdcathcon.org and watch this page for more information.
Click here to learn the TRUTH about physician-assisted suicide.
Read about efforts to oppose PAS legislation in The Dialog.
For additional information, including videos, click here.
Maggie was diagnosed with brain cancer and strongly opposes assisted suicide. Hear this story of a strong woman with much left to give to her family and society. She has a powerful story of hope and courage – and that no doctor can put a timetable on anyone’s life.
Click here to read, “To Live Each Day With Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide” from the USCCB.
“The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”
–Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 1995
Click here to learn more about the Church’s stand on the Death Penalty/Capital Punishment
I Lived on Parker Avenue: A Short Documentary Film About Adoption
Adopted at birth and raised in Louisiana, David Scotton is on a journey to Indiana to meet the birth parents hes never known. His tattooed birth mother, Melissa, and reserved birth father, Brian, anxiously wait for him, concerned David will reject them for decisions they made before he was born. I Lived on Parker Avenue is a short documentary about a mothers agony in choosing whats best, the joy of a couple starting a family, and young mans search for where his life began.
Catholic Advance Health Care Directive for Delaware:
Every person has the right to make his or her own medical decisions. But what happens if you become so seriously ill or injured that you can no longer make your own medical decisions or communicate them to those around you? That is when an advance heath care directive can be of great help. An advance health care directive, sometimes called a living will, is a legal document that allows you to give directions about your future medical care in the event you become unable to make your wishes known. An advance directive lets others know how you wish to be treated if you become seriously ill or injured and are unable to make decisions for yourself. Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about the Catholic Advanced Health Care Directive. Click here to download the document and instructions.
Catholic Advance Health Care Directive for Maryland:
A copy of the Maryland Bishops’ Pastoral Letter, Comfort and Consolation Pastoral Letter, and Advanced Directive are available here.
If you are experiencing a crisis pregnancy
or are grieving after an abortion and need to talk to someone about it,
call our toll-free, 24-hour confidential pregnancy/post-abortion counseling hotline at
1-877-225-7870.
Click here for information about Birthright of Delaware.
Click here for information about the 40 Days for Life Campaign in Wilmington and Dover.
Click here for information about Rachel’s Vineyard.
Click here for information about Delaware Right to Life.
OTHER PREGNANCY
CARE CENTERS:
A Door of Hope 302-998-9000
3407 Lancaster Pike, Wilmington, DE
218 E. Main St., Newark, DE
Bethany Christian Services
302-369-3470
Newark, DE
Moms House, Inc. 302-658-3433
1718 Howland St., Wilmington, DE
Pregnancy Help Center of
Kent County 302-698-9311
1991 S. State St., Dover, DE
Pregnancy Help Center of Kent
County 302-335-4225
3624 Bay Rd., Milford, DE
Sussex Pregnancy Care Center 302-856-4344
536 S. Bedford St., Georgetown, DE
Cecil County Pregnancy Center
410-398-7888
247 Bridge St., Elkton, MD
Choices for Life Pregnancy Center, 8221 Teal Drive Unit 408,
Easton, MD 21601. 410-822-3311. choicesinpregnancy.org
Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center, 1300 S. Division St, Salisbury, MD
21801. 410-546-5433. easternshorepregnancycenter.org
Shirley Grace Pregnancy Center, 10226 Old Ocean City Blvd,
Berlin, MD 21811. 443-513-4124. sgpregnancycenter.com
Maryland Pregnancy Center
24-Hour Hotline 1-800-492-5530