Roe V. Wade Anniversary… “The Pre-Eminent Human Rights Issue Of Our Time”
(Editor’s Note: Following are statements and letters from several U.S. bishops marking the forty-sixth anniversary of Roe v. Wade and praying for an end to abortion.)
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Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann
Chairman
USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities
January 18, 2019
The pro-life ethic challenges us to care about the sacredness of every human being throughout the life spectrum. We are called always and everywhere to promote the dignity of the human person.
Protecting the life of the unborn children is the pre-eminent human rights issue of our time, not only because of the sheer magnitude of the numbers, but because abortion attacks the sanctuary of life, the family.
Abortion advocates pit the welfare of the mother against the life of her child. Every abortion not only destroys the life of an innocent child, but it wounds and scars mothers and fathers who must live with the harsh reality that they hired someone to destroy their daughter or son. In reality, the welfare of parents and their child are always intimately linked.
We are concerned about the life and dignity of the human person wherever it is threatened or diminished. We care about those harmed by economic poverty, by racism, by religious intolerance. We care about the plight of the refugee fleeing persecution and the immigrant seeking a better life for his or her family, of victims of violent crime as well as those imprisoned, of those with intellectual or physical disabilities and the frail elderly, of violence and disrespect against those in law enforcement as well as the victims of police brutality.
Anyone whose life is threatened and anyone whose human dignity is disrespected have a claim on our hearts.
For all Catholics, the last several months have been profoundly difficult. We have been devastated by the scandal of sexual misconduct by clergy and of past instances of the failure of bishops to respond with compassion to victims of abuse and to protect adequately the members of their flock. The abuse of children or minors upends the pro-life ethic because it is a grave injustice and an egregious offense against the dignity of the human person.
Moreover, the failure to respond effectively to the abuse crisis undermines every other ministry within the Church.
As people of faith who believe God’s truth about life, we must support and seek justice for all of God’s children. We must do all we can to be God’s witnesses of merciful love in the world. We know and give thanks for the great dignity God has given to us from the moment of conception, to be made in His image. We also must pray for the grace to remind others of this inherent dignity, in our words and in our actions.
January 22nd is the National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. It is a special time for Americans to unite ourselves to the cause of life, through prayer and fasting.
I encourage all God’s people today to pray for an end to the human rights abuse of abortion, and for a culture of life, where through God’s grace all will come to know they are made in His Divine Image. Let us pray that we can be great and effective witnesses for life, witnesses for love, witnesses for mercy.
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Most Rev. Michael F. Burbidge
Bishop of Arlington, Va.
January 15, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The month of January provides us with opportunities to express our belief in the dignity and value of all human life and to provide public witness that we will not be silent when injustices like abortion continue to have a place in our society.
Each year, people from around the country gather in our nation’s capital for the March for Life. I take this opportunity to thank all who travel from great distances to take part in public action on behalf of those who cannot speak out for themselves. Most especially, I thank our parishes for their participation and the hospitality they show to others throughout this week.
In addition to marching for life, I take this opportunity to encourage all of the faithful to participate in “9 Days for Life” from January 14-22, 2019 (more information is available at USCCB.org). I pray that one day we, united in prayer, and persistent in our advocacy for the unborn and the vulnerable, will root out any instance of injustice or violence again human life.
In one of the most powerful and energetic events on the diocesan calendar, I look forward to seeing our youth at the Eagle Bank Arena in Fairfax for the Life Is VERY Good Evening of Prayer (January 17, 7:30 p.m.) and Rally and Mass (January 18, 9 a.m.). The annual March for Life rally begins on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at noon on January 18.
As was the case last year, the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See has granted a plenary indulgence that may be obtained, under the usual conditions, by those who participate in the sacred celebrations carried out on January 17 and 18. The elderly, sick, and homebound may also gain a plenary indulgence if they spiritually unite themselves to these events and make their prayer and penance an offering to God.
Thank you for your faithful witness to the dignity and value of all human life, and please be assured of my prayers for you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Rev. Michael F. Burbidge
Bishop of Arlington
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Bishop John Barres
Rockville Centre, N.Y.
January 22, 2019 Homily at St. Agnes Cathedral
(Editor’s Note: Bishop Barres offers below the text of the January 21 statement of the New York bishops opposing the monstrous “Reproductive Health Act,” which Gov. Cuomo signed the night of January 22, after the bishops’ statement had been issued.)
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Today, January 22, 2019, we, as Catholics, engage in a National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children and we commemorate the 46th Anniversary of the tragic United States Supreme Court Decision Roe v. Wade.
We pray at Mass today with our Catholic Faith Network Audience and with people all around our nation for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and we engage in penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.
I invite Catholics across Long Island and across our country to pray the Rosary today for all those who are healing from the abortion experience, all those involved in Project Rachel, the work of our Catholic Charities Regina Residence, our Catholic Health Services of Long Island and all those who work for and teach the Gospel of Life.
Last Friday, so many people from the Diocese of Rockville Centre came to the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. All of our Catholic High Schools brought students and many public school and home-school students were present as well.
It is inspirational to see so many of our young people embrace the Gospel of Life as a key cornerstone and foundation of their philosophy of life. The hope that Jesus brings them in their Catholic faith is the anchor of their soul and the anchor of their public witness. They express their commitment with great spirit, great poise, great courage and great creativity.
These young people — future doctors, lawyers, nurses, politicians, educators, financiers, marketers, social media and communication experts, priests, religious — are and will be articulate spokespeople in the public square for the Gospel of human life.
We ended the March with so many of our young people praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Joseph’s Parish on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. I asked them to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament the beautiful prayer from the Book of Samuel:
“Speak Lord, your servant is listening. . . . Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
They had just finished the March. They had seen a variety of young people from all over the country witnessing the same way they were.
It made sense that they have this moment with Jesus and say to Him: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” This is a prayer that will always open them to witness to the Gospel of Life in every setting and season of their life.
I also pointed them to a statue within St. Joseph’s parish on Capitol Hill — a parish situated close to the Capitol Building and the Senate Buildings.
It is the statue of St. Thomas More, Patron of Statesmen, Politicians, and Lawyers (which would include, of course, all Supreme Court Justices and all Senators and Representatives in the U.S. Congress).
We asked the intercession of this great saint for all Statesmen, Politicians, and Lawyers that they may in all their deliberations, discussions, and decisions defend and promote the sanctity of human life at every stage of life since the sanctity of human life is the foundation of every other human right.
We also pray in solidarity today with all our World Youth Day pilgrims who are in Panama today witnessing to the Splendor of Truth globally with Bishop Robert Brennan.
In a special way, we go to St. Thomas More today in New York State on behalf of our Governor and all our legislators who seem prepared to pass a very tragic expansion of our state’s already radically permissive abortion law.
Let me read to you in full the Statement From the Bishops of New York State:
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A Statement From the Catholic Bishops of New York State
Words are insufficient to describe the profound sadness we feel at the contemplated passage of New York State’s new proposed abortion policy. We mourn the unborn infants who will lose their lives, and the many mothers and fathers who will suffer remorse and heartbreak as a result.
The so-called “Reproductive Health Act” will expand our state’s already radically permissive law, by empowering more health practitioners to provide abortion and removing all state restrictions on late-term procedures. With an abortion rate that is already double the national average, New York law is moving in the wrong direction.
We renew our pledge to offer the resources and services of our charitable agencies and health services to any woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, to support her in bearing her infant, raising her family, or placing her child for adoption. There are life-affirming choices available, and we aim to make them more widely known and accessible.
Our Governor and legislative leaders hail this new abortion law as progress. This is not progress. Progress will be achieved when our laws and our culture once again value and respect each unrepeatable gift of human life, from the first moment of creation to natural death. Would that not make us truly the most enlightened and progressive state in the nation?
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I am grateful for this Statement that I signed as a Bishop of New York State and the Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
But it is so important at this critical moment that all lay Catholics stand up in prayer and stand up in every dimension of the public square for the sanctity of human life.
Thank you all for your courageous and consistent witness.
Mary, Queen of Peace and Queen of Life, pray for us!
St. Thomas More, Patron of Statesmen, Politicians, and Lawyers, pray for us!
St. John Paul II, Courageous Advocate of the Culture of Life, pray for us!
St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
St. Gianna, pray for us!
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Bishop Jaime Soto
Sacramento, Calif.
January 22, 2019
Dear Friends in Christ:
The practice of abortion continues to threaten human life and perpetuates a numbed tolerance for a throwaway society. Infant girls and boys are deemed a threat while still in the womb. The practice of abortion discards them and leaves the mother with a deep wound. Long lingers an emptiness that reverberates through the woman, her family, and society.
This emptiness can be hard to discern because the life extinguished by abortion was hardly known if acknowledged at all. Human life is a fabric into which we are all weaved. To tear away a thread of this marvelous, mysterious fabric can unravel the whole cloth.
There is a deep human connectedness which we take for granted. Legalized abortion reveals how little we understand this sacred bond of life. The continued practice of abortion further unravels the fabric of our families and communities.
For this reason, we mark the forty-sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, as a day of prayer and reparation. The word “reparation” implies not only making atonement for the sin of abortion. The word also suggests that we must repair the fabric of lives, both women and men, that have been torn or unraveled by abortion.
We do not undertake this mission on our own nor are we the originators of this work. Jesus began the work of reparation and He has chosen us to be His messengers of mercy and healing. To end the practice of abortion and make reparation for its evil has been a prolonged effort but so has been all the work of redemption. Though the road has been long and the future dim, our hope is rooted not in our own success but in the one saving work of Jesus. St. Paul reminds us: “If we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance” (Romans 8:25).
Let us continue to pray for expectant mothers and their children. May that expectation turn into the hope of lives woven together by the mercy of God.
We pray also for one another that we may continue to be the missionaries of Gospel joy brought into life.
May the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary sustain our efforts to build a culture of life with the wisdom and charity of her Son, Jesus.
Respectfully,
+Jaime Soto
Bishop of Sacramento
