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WASHINGTON (September 5, 2000) -- Respect Life program materials for the 2000-2001 observance are now
available from the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB). Respect Life Sunday, which begins the year-long effort, is October 1.
Begun in 1972, the Respect Life program strives to bring Church teaching on the value and dignity of human life to the attention of the Catholic community and the wider public.
The program combines prayer, pastoral services, advocacy and education. It is observed in virtually all of the 195 Catholic dioceses in the United States.
This year's Respect Life packet includes educational materials developing the themes of Pope John Paul II's encyclical The Gospel of Life and the U.S. bishops' 1998 statement Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics.
The articles include "In God's Image: Building a Culture of Life" by the late Cardinal John O'Connor, "Living the Gospel of Life and Civic Responsibility" by Professor David Walsh of Catholic University, "The Gospel of Life and the Sentence of Death: Catholic Teaching on Capital Punishment" by Rev. Augustine Judd, O.P., "Family and Society: International Organizations and the Defense of the Family" by Professor Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard University, "False Freedom and the Culture of Death" by Richard Doerflinger of the NCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, and "Divine Mercy in My Soul," by Theresa Bonopartis.
The kits also include a new flyer, The Door Opens to Infanticide, responding to the Supreme Court's late June decision which struck down thirty states' bans on the partial-birth abortion procedure and provided legal protection to virtual infanticide.
A flier, clip art, a liturgy guide, full-color posters, and every article in the packet are available in English and Spanish. Program models and resources for implementing the program in schools and communities are also included in the packet.
For more information, or to order materials, contact the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at 202-541-3070. The website address is www.nccbuscc.org.