Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Catholics fill many roles in life's defense
Catholics fill many roles in life's defense
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 26, 2008
Detroit — The late Pope John Paul II wrote that "every threat to human dignity and life must necessarily be felt in the Church's very heart; it cannot but affect her at the core of her faith in the redemptive incarnation of the son of God, and engage her in her mission of proclaiming the Gospel of life in all the world and to every creature."
Few teachings so clearly spell out the Church's commitment to defending life and its dignity than the 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae." Indeed, in the Church today, the truth of the sacredness of life is close at hand in every debate about public policy, social justice and health care.
But the Church's teachings on the defense and dignity of life go much further than words alone. As headlines about abortion and embryonic stem-cell research abound in the 2008 election season, many Catholics are taking personally their call to defend the defenseless whose very existence is imperiled — whether they be embryos, fetuses, newborn children, convicted felons, or adults nearing death.
Throughout the month of October — recognized by U.S. Church leaders as Respect for Life Month — The Michigan Catholic will highlight Catholic lay people, ministers and health professionals who help promote and protect the sacredness of life.
They number many. They use prayer, counseling, healthcare services and education. And their fight for life takes place on diverse battlefields — from crisis pregnancy centers to the sidewalks in front of abortion clinics, and from the halls of Congress to the halls of hospitals and hospice centers.
This year, especially as the local Church faces the grave affront to life in Proposal 2 — the ballot initiative that would engrave into the state constitution a right for researchers to destroy human embryos — these Catholics are echoing the call of Cardinal Adam Maida and his fellow bishops to recognize that life is valuable for what the Lord has made it.
In Cardinal Maida's words, "The value of human life is not in its utility, but in the fact it is created by God; its dignity is inherent."
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