Abortion, the direct killing of an innocent human being, is always gravely immoral (The Gospel of Life, no. 57); its victims are the most vulnerable and defenseless members of the human family. It is imperative that those who are called to serve the least among us give urgent attention and priority to this issue of justice.
~ Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, USCCB 2001
~
Gospel of Life Institute
Created to promote the culture of life through
prayer, communication, fellowship, and study.
The Gospel of Life Institute
has been founded to spread the good news about the dignity of each
and every human being, from the moment of conception until a natural
death. In 1995, John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter entitled
Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of
Life), proclaiming the divine goodness inherent in every human life.
He encouraged every Catholic Christian along with all people of
good will, to work for the protection and reverence for the sanctity
of human life.
The Gospel of Life
Institute is an attempt to respond to this challenge and need.
Much sin is due to ignorance. High amongst our priorities is to
inform every Catholic of the beautiful teaching of the Church
regarding the human person. In addition, we hope to share this
teaching with other Christians as well as non-Christians, many of whom share our abhorrence with
the attacks on the sacredness of human life.
This apostolate can be achieved through
effective use of the communication media at our disposal,
supporting a variety of respect life efforts in our area and
disseminating the truth in appealing formats. Already begun is
this website, which was formerly known as the Western Washington
Pro-Life Network,
along with its email update
(Western Washington Pro-Life Update).
Another need in the respect life community
is the implementation of the American Bishops’ document
Pastoral Plan for Respect Life Activity, written in
2001. This plan calls for the creation of Respect Life Committees
on the local parish level, as well as the diocesan and state levels.
The implementation depends on the permission and support of pastors
and bishops.
One way to promote these
parish groups is to gather the faithful for Mass or other prayer
events along with time for fellowship and study. The networking
that takes place at these events could encourage deanery-wide support
for respect life activities which include prayer, study, service,
and advocacy.
Fr. Ed White
Every individual, precisely by reason
of the mystery of the Word of God who was made flesh (cf. Jn
1:14), is entrusted to the maternal care of the Church.
Therefore every threat to human dignity and life must
necessarily be felt in the Church's very heart; it cannot but
affect her at the core of her faith in the Redemptive
Incarnation of the Son of God, and engage her in her mission of
proclaiming the Gospel of life in all the world and to every
creature
(cf. Mk 16:15).
~ The Gospel of Life, no. 3 ~