Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Upcoming pro-life events and the Priests for Life January-February Newsletter
December 27, 2010
Dear John,
I invite you to view my latest youtube video about the Christmas celebration, where I reflect on the fact that hope is nourished in the family, and that’s why Christmas is immediately followed by a second beautiful feast, the Feast of the Holy Family (which was yesterday). View the video at
January 2011 will hold many pro-life events from coast to coast. Please, invite all priests, deacons and seminarians that you know to join me for the next Mobilizing the Clergy for Life webcast, January 18, 2011 from 3-3:45pm ET. They can sign up for more information at www.priestsforlife.org/clergy.
Join me in San Francisco, CA on January 21-22 for the West Coast Walk for Life. On Friday, January 21, I will speak at an Interfaith Prayer service to be held from 8-9pm PT at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough St., San Francisco. Georgette Forney, co-founder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign will also participate in this event.
On Saturday, January 22 at 8am PT, I will concelebrate Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral and then take part in the Walk for Life beginning with a rally at 11am PT at Justin Hermann Plaza. Georgette Forney and I will March in front with the women and men of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. At 1:45PM PT the women and men of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign will gather and give testimonies at Marina Green Park on Marina Boulevard.
I head to Washington, DC on Sunday, January 23 where from 3:30-5:30pm ET, at the bookstore of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, I will do a book signing, along with my full-time associates Theresa and Kevin Burke of Rachel’s Vineyard.
Monday, January 24 is the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. Please start the day with me at the nation's premier pro-life service on Capitol Hill from 8:00-10:15am, The National Memorial for the Pre-Born and their Mothers and Fathers. I will deliver the homily. We are confirming the exact location in one of our Federal buildings, and will provide that detail shortly. At the conclusion of the March, please join me at the steps of the Supreme Court for a gathering of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. There we support and listen to the men and women who have lost children to abortion and I will again address the crowd.
Also, I welcome your comments on my regular column in the Washington Post online forum called “On Faith.” Each week I have the opportunity to address a particular topic. Comments are permitted from the public, but unless people like you participate, the Church-haters and pro-aborts end up having more comments. So I invite you to visit the forum and comment on my articles, and let’s outnumber the opposition. (The new columns are usually posted each Tuesday.) The more of our Priests for Life family participate in this conversation, the more the readers will see the strength of our movement. So please share your thoughts, along with mine, each week at http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/frank_pavone/.
After the January-February Newsletter, you will find our upcoming media schedule.
Blessings and Prayers,
Fr. Frank Pavone National Director, Priests for Life
Praise for our work
Because Fr. Peter West suggested I have The Gabriel Project started in our Catholic Church here in Florida, many babies have been saved - Linda
Priests for Life January-February 2011 Newsletter
(L. to r.) Astrid Bennett Gutierrez, Teresa Tomeo and Janet Morana in the Priests for Life Studio
New TV Show: The Catholic View for Women!
Janet Morana, Executive Director of Priests for Life, along with Teresa Tomeo and Astrid Bennett Gutierrez co-host “The Catholic View for Women,” a new miniseries on EWTN and a good antidote to “The View.” Check out www.TheCatholicViewForWomen.com for details and to give your input!
How to Preach About Abortion
The occasion of the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade (Jan. 22) provides an additional pastoral motive for preaching about abortion. Priests for Life has been providing resources for two decades regarding preaching on abortion. Here are some of the suggestions we have:
a) Any homily on abortion should stress the simple point that no abortion is necessary, and that the Church, along with thousands of pregnancy centers, is providing alternatives every day. Extend the invitation to every woman who is pregnant and in need, no matter what her ethnic or religious background, to come to the Church and the pro-life movement for help. Give to the people the information they can use to save lives. The Option Line (1-800-395-HELP/4357) and its website www.PregnancyCenters.org connects people with alternatives to abortion, wherever they may live.
b) A homily on abortion also needs to stress the urgent invitation to forgiveness and healing. We who reject abortion do not reject those who have abortions.
At www.AbortionForgiveness.org, Priests for Life, through the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, provides a search mechanism to find the nearest abortion healing programs to where one lives.
c) The message of alternatives and forgiveness demonstrates that the Church’s response to people amidst the abortion culture is to say what Jesus says to us all: “I am with you.” We do not raise hands of condemnation; rather, we extend hands of mercy and strength, to lift people out of despair both before and after abortion. The pro-life movement does not aim to take away people’s “rights”; rather, it aims to take away their despair.
d) The members of our congregations, for the most part, know abortion is wrong. But they are not sure it is any of their business to stop someone else from doing it. A key purpose of pro-life preaching is to help them to see that it is their business, because ours is the business of love, to intervene to save those in danger or in need. Pro-life preaching aims to help people understand that the rationale for intervening to stop an abortion is exactly the same as the rationale behind our efforts to stop crime, acts of terror, drug abuse, child abuse, or any other kind of violence.
e) The theme of pro-life can always be derived from, and is always consistent with, the Sunday readings. At www.priestsforlife.org/liturgy, you will find homily hints for the Sunday readings of the entire year in all three cycles. These homily hints (along with General intercessions and a paragraph for the bulletin) are also available weekly via email (send request to clergy@priestsforlife.org) and as an iPhone app (search iTunes store for “Priests for Life”).
f ) One of the most powerful dimensions of pro-life preaching is to share the experiences of those who have lost children to abortion and have been forgiven and healed by the Lord. These experiences cut through the rhetoric of the debate that often confuses people. Hundreds of testimonies can be quoted from www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org.
g) Pro-life preaching should convey confidence. We have confidence in the victory of this cause, because Christ has already conquered the kingdom of death. We have confidence in the power of God’s truth to convert minds, hearts, cultures, and political systems. We have confidence in the willingness and ability of our people to engage this battle in a compassionate and courageous way.
Priest Profile: Father Leonard Klein
Photo courtesy of The Dialog/ Diocese of Wilmington By Leslie Palma, Communications Director, Priests for Life
The Catholic Church’s unwavering stance against abortion led Father Leonard Klein to seek ordination to the Catholic priesthood more than 30 years after he became a Lutheran minister.
As associate pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Wilmington, Del., he is wellpositioned to wage war against abortion: Delaware has the fifth highest abortion rate in the country.
In addition to his parish duties, he serves on the board of directors of A Rose and A Prayer, whose goal is to halve the number of abortions in the state.
Father Klein also has served on the Diocesan Respect Life Committee and was the associate director of Catholic Charities’ Family Life Bureau for the diocese. He has been deeply involved in the resistance to embryonic stem cell research.
Married for 40 years, the father of three and grandfather of five, Father Klein had his case for ordination recommended to the Holy Father and was ordained a Catholic priest in April 2006. Even though he goes home to a wife instead of a rectory, “I feel like I’m one of the guys.”
Raised in the theologically conservative Missouri Synod, he served churches in congregations that became part of the more liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As some parishes lapsed into “wild and silly liberalism,” Father Klein called for “more sanity and sobriety.” Instead what he encountered was a pension plan that pays for abortion.
“It made it pretty clear to me that my theology and spirituality were becoming increasingly Catholic,” he said. “It’s bad enough to wink at sexual sins, but abortion was a lot worse. I couldn’t stay.”
Pro-Life Novena
Please join us at www.PrayerCampaign.org in praying and promoting our Novena of Reparation for Roe vs. Wade, from January 14-22. Beyond that, please link to this site from your parish or organization’s website for special pro-life prayers and novenas throughout the year!
Prayer Intentions
You are encouraged to remember the following intentions as you pray the Liturgy of the Hours:
JANUARY INTENTION: That as the United States marks 38 years since Roe vs. Wade, God may grant the nation more judges who discern the dignity of every human life.
FEBRUARY INTENTION: That Christ’s faithful may both hold and practice a correct understanding of the consistent ethic of life.
Lent is a season of repentance, which leads to life. Priests for Life urges all Christians to join us in saying the Lenten Pro-life Prayer. Order as many prayer cards as you need for you and your parish, free of charge. #2449 - Free of charge.
The Cross and the People of Life: The Seven Last Words and a Good Friday Homily
This 2 CD set is Fr. Frank Pavone preaching the Seven Last Words at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, CT. Weaving the themes of the Passion and the pro-life cause, Fr. Frank gives a Biblically based, stirring call to draw strength from the cross to advance the Gospel of Life. Also includes his homily at the Liturgy of the Passion. #2029 - $18.00.
The Way of the Cross for Families
The Way of the Cross for Families is a collaborative effort of Priests for Life and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family. This is a special gift and blessing for families, and there is a deep connection between the mysteries of Our Lord’s Passion and the mystery of the family. #1372 - $5.00.
SHIPPING COSTS: $0.00 to $25… $7.95 $25.01 to $50…$12.95 $50.01 to $100...$16.95 $100.01 to $200...$24.95 $200.01 or more..$34.95
Upcoming Media Schedule
Janet Morana and women from the Silent No More Awareness Campaign will be on Life on the Rock on EWTN on Thursday, January 6 at 10 PM ET. The show will repeat on Friday, January 7 at 9 AM ET and 8 PM ET and on Saturday, January 8 at 1 AM ET.
Fr. Frank will be on the Catholic Answers Live Radio Show on January 12, 2011 from 6-7pm ET. For station information and to listen online go to http://www.catholic.com/radio/about.asp. Call-in during the live show at 888-31-TRUTH or 888-318-7884.
Hear us on EWTN radio on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Fr. Frank Pavone is her guest every Wednesday from 9:35-10am and Janet Morana is her guest every Friday from 9:10-9:30am. For radio station information and to listen to the live show on the internet, go to www.avemariaradio.net. Defending Life: Watch on EWTN every Thursday at 11:00pm and every Saturday at 2:30 am. Listen on EWTN Radio every Friday at 1am, Saturday at 6:30pm and Sunday at 5am. For more information or to listen online go to www.ewtn.com. This week’s topic: Part 2 with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna and Chancellor, International Theological Institute Defendiendo La Vida: Watch on EWTN every Saturday at 11pm ET and every Sunday at 5:30am ET. Gospel of Life: Watch on Catholic Familyland: Sunday at 1am, Monday at 9am, Wednesday at 3:30am and Thursday at 11:30pm. Watch on the National Religious Broadcasters network (NRB), Wednesday at 6pm. The NRB Network is on DIRECTV, channel 378.
Playing on NRB this week: Ending Abortion, Not Just Fighting It
Playing on Catholic FamilyLand this week: Saved from Abortion
Fr. Victor Salomón is the guest on Radio Jesus, 93.9 FM, Bronx, NY, every 3rd Saturday of the Month from 1-2pm. You can also listen on-line at www.misionerosdejesus.org.
Please tune in and spread the word! In fact, you can help us – and your whole parish -- by asking your pastor to place in the parish bulletin an announcement about our TV shows. Thanks in advance!
