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The Holy Father Speaks on the Culture of Life
Upcoming Events:
June – August:
- The 2010-2011 Respect Life Program is now available to all Dioceses! Contact your local Diocesan Pro-Life Director for materials and more information on the wonderful resources available.
October:
- October is Respect Life Month! Support your local Diocese’s efforts to promote the Culture of Life. Pray for the dignity of all human life to be respected and defended from conception to natural death.
January:
- March for Life in Washington D.C.!
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities organizes a Prayer Vigil for Life held at the National Shrine, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. The mass begins at 6:30 PM EST.
- "God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant
still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the
adult and the elderly person. God does not distinguish between them
because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness in each
one."
~ Pope Benedict XVI, Address on the Human Embryo, February 27, 2006 - “Modern medical science strives, if not exactly to exclude death, at least to eliminate as many as possible of its causes, to postpone it further and further, to prolong life more and more. ... The true cure for death must be different. It cannot lead simply to an indefinite prolongation of this current life. It would have to transform our lives from within. It would need to create a new life within us, truly fit for eternity.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI, homily, Easter Vigil Mass, April 3, 2010 - “Wherever respect for life and human dignity are lacking, there is need of God’s merciful love, in whose light we see the inexpressible value of every human being. Mercy is needed in order to ensure that every injustice in the world will come to an end in the splendour of truth.”
~ Pope John Paul II, Homily, Dedication of the Shrine of Divine Mercy, Krakow, Aug. 17, 2002 - “The human goal is not wellbeing but God himself, and … human life must be defended at every stage. Indeed, no one is master of his own life. Rather we are all called to treasure life and to respect it from the moment of conception to its natural end. … I express my appreciation of those who work more directly at the service of children, the sick and the elderly.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI, remarks after Angelus message, February 7, 2010 - “In order to protect nature, it is not enough to intervene with economic incentives or deterrents. The decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society. If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), 51, June 29, 2009 - “The Ten Commandments to which Jesus refers in his answer [to the rich young man] are only to clarify the commandment of love. They are, so to speak, rules of love, they indicate the way of love with these essential points; the family, as a foundation of society; life, to be respected as a gift of God; the order of sexuality, of relations between man and woman; the social order and, finally, truth. These essential elements describe the route of love, they explain how really to love and how to find the right route. Hence there is a fundamental will of God for us all, which is identical for us all. However its application is different in every life, for God has a specific project for each person.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Meeting with the Youth of Rome and Lazio Region, March 25, 2010