Respect Life

Respect Life assists parishes in understanding and implementing the concept of the Consistent Life Ethic, whereby the respect and dignity of all persons is embraced from the moment of conception to natural death. Project Rachel is a pastoral outreach for those who have had an abortion experience whereby assistance is available from priests, counselors and post-abortion support groups. The Mother-Infant Care Program provides assistance and support to women who are pregnant or who have recently had babies.

"The one issue is LIFE, in all its manifestations. We must be consistent in our support of all of life’s issues. To ignore one is to place all in jeopardy. It is that very consistency which demands that we be absolutely uncompromising in our defense of life of the unborn."

- Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin

Some of us have experienced the loss of a child through abortion. Others have faced agonizing decisions concerning a loved one suffering from incurable disease or an elderly parent who has given up on life. These and other specific life issue situations touch our hearts in a very personal way. We become particularly sensitive and concerned when we hear of others facing similar circumstances because we know only too well their pain and frustration.

The one issue consistent to all these particular dilemmas is the issue of LIFE. In each of these situations, the sanctity of a human life is threatened or diminished. It is through our particular experience that we come to personalize our understanding of a respect for the Church's teaching concerning the sacredness and vulnerability of human life. In turn, it is through this personal experience that we are challenged to grow and expand our awareness of the sacredness of human life in a wider frame of reference.

In the quotation above, Cardinal Bernardin is calling us to a "Consistent Ethic of Life". We are called to recognize a wide range of related issues and to maintain deep commitment to basics while we pursue questions and alternatives in the particular issue that has called us to a heightened life awareness. "For this command which I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you… No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouth and in your hearts: you have only to carry it out." (Deut. 30:11-14)

Our goal as the Archdiocesan Respect Life Office is to help our fellow pro-life workers to be ever more effective in the life issue that particularly calls them and to promote a comprehensive vision of the Church's teaching on the dignity of the human person. Together, we can build an inclusive and cooperative approach to issues and strategies.

"An all-embracing reverence for the sacredness of life includes strong opposition to a wide spectrum of evils, from abortion to nuclear holocaust to euthanasia. It would include equally strong support for a wide range of positive social programs, from feeding the hungry and housing the homeless to helping the elderly and the immigrant."

  • Rhonda Chevrin: The Consistent Life Ethic
  • Understanding the Issues

For more information about Respect Life, please contact Helen Rothgerber at (502)637-9786 or email hrothgerber@archlou.org