WASHINGTON (January 3, 2002) -- Response to terrorism is a key theme of Stand Against Violence, the Catholic Church's annual January 15-22 anti-violence campaign.

The campaign, which is in its eighth year, begins on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, and ends with the January 22 March for Life, which marks the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing abortion.

To assist diocesan, parish, college and school groups, the National Catholic Anti-Violence Working Group has distributed a 25-page resource packet.

"Recent acts of terrorism, like the attacks on September 11, and the spate of anthrax-laced letters, demonstrate all too clearly the violence in our world," said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Domestic Policy Committee, in a cover letter. "As our nation's leaders search for answers and for those who are responsible, we must rely on the principles of our Christian faith and turn to those whose lives are an example of love, forgiveness and understanding. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s powerful witness of a nonviolent life is an appropriate reminder of what is still needed to reconcile the dream of a fully-welcoming society. And the dream of a culture of life remains unrealized when each year more than 1.4 million children never see the day of their birth."

The resource packet focuses on four issues confronting the Catholic community: the death penalty, the need for increased money and attention to international debt relief; Church teaching on crime and punishment; and providing a safe haven to baby abandonment.

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