USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - January 2005

January 2005 – Worth Noting

American Culture Increasingly Turning Away From Abortion

Are abortion advocates utterly out of step with the world around them? The pro-abortion Center for Gender Equality recently published a survey of women showing that, of all the "top priority" issues for the women's movement, "keeping abortion legal" ranked dead last. The survey also showed that a majority of women – 51 percent – believe that abortion should never be permitted, or permitted only in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment – situations that account for just two percent of abortions yearly. This month, thousands of Catholics will come to Washington, D.C. for the annual National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on January 23, 2005, one of the largest annual Catholic Masses in the country. Busloads of young Catholics from across the country will come to pray for an end to abortion, and to join tens of thousands of people in the March for Life the following day to protest the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide through all nine months of pregnancy. "Roe v. Wade has been a social experiment on the lives of women and children," says Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of planning and information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. But according to Ruse, "the culture is turning away from abortion. More and more people believe that all children deserve a chance to be born, and that women deserve better than abortion."

For more information, contact Cathy Cleaver Ruse at (202) 541-3070 or cruse@usccb.org.

Catholic Schools Saluted for Achievement and Growth

Despite demographic shifts to the suburbs, greater financial challenges and competition from charter schools, the Church's steadfast commitment to educating children is demonstrated by the recent opening of 34 new schools, according to the 2003-2004 annual report of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). Meanwhile, 2,801 schools are maintaining waiting lists for admission, minority enrollment has more than doubled in the past 30 years and non-Catholic enrollment has reached 13.5 percent. Support of the nearly 8,000 Catholic schools is encouraged annually during Catholic Schools Week, January 30-February 5, 2005, a joint project between the NCEA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, USCCB secretary for education, says that "the theme of "Faith in Every Student" underscores two guiding principles of Catholic education – the fact that faith is an important value at the foundation of a Catholic school curriculum and that Catholic schools have faith that every student can achieve." In recognition of overall achievement, 25 Catholic elementary and two high schools are among 250 schools nationwide on the list of No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools for 2004.

For more information, contact Sister Glenn Anne McPhee at (202) 541-3130 or gmcphee@usccb.org.