In light of the recent terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, which were attacks against the sanctity of human life and the common good, we need now, more than ever before, as Catholics and as Americans, to transform the present culture of death into a renewed culture of life. Underlying these diabolic acts of terrorism was a profound and pervasive disrespect for human life. This total disregard for life is not new either in this country or in the world. What happened on Sept. 11 displays in such a horrific and devastating fashion how cheaply human life is valued at so many levels and in so many ways within our society.
In “Evangelium Vitae,” Pope John Paul II summarized not a few examples of this increasing disrespect for life. “Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free responsible persons….They poison human society….[W]ith new prospects opened up by scientific and technological progress there arise new forms of attacks on the dignity of the human being” (No. 3).
These new attacks take the form of extracting embryonic stem cells, which results in the death of the embryo; or of in vitro fertilization, a process which creates human beings in an artificial manner, manipulates them as objects and not persons at the whim of the parents, and in many cases makes orphans out of those not chosen, housing them in a sustained frozen existence; or of cloning, to name just a few. The pope also states: “…broad sectors of public opinion justify certain crimes against life in the name of the rights of individual freedom, and on this basis they claim not only exemption from punishment but even authorization by the state, so that these things can be done with total freedom…” (No. 4).
Moreover, he points to acts of violence against life: “And how can we fail to consider the violence against life done to millions of human beings, especially children, who are forced into poverty, malnutrition and hunger because of an unjust distribution of resources between peoples and between social classes? And what of the violence inherent not only in wars as such but in the scandalous arms trade, which spawns the many armed conflicts which stain our world with blood?
What of the spreading of death caused by reckless tampering with the world’s ecological balance, by the criminal spread of drugs, or by the promotion of certain kinds of sexual activity which, besides being morally unacceptable, also involve grave risks to life? It is impossible to catalogue completely the vast array of threats to human life, so many are the forms, whether explicit or hidden, in which they appear today!” (No. 10).
Prayer and witness are key to fashioning a renewed and strong culture of life. October is not only Respect Life Month, but also the month of the Holy Rosary. When it does not occur on a Sunday, Oct. 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. In that beautiful prayer, rooted in both scripture and tradition, we find a most powerful weapon against the forces of evil, including the evil of disrespecting and attacking human life from its first moment at conception all the way through to its last moment at natural death.
I urge all our Catholics to pray the Rosary every day, numbering among the intentions for which we pray the elimination of abortion and all other attacks on life (including terrorism) and the rebuilding of a culture of life. I also urge all of us to continue to be educated, in objective and thorough ways, regarding all the life-issues.
To this process of education must be added our witness regarding life, which necessarily implies tangible involvement, e.g., praying before abortion clinics on a regular basis, promoting pro-life attitudes and actions through teaching, etc. Each October the Catholic Church in the United States launches anew a Respect Life Program, whose goal is to assist us as individuals and as parishes to deepen and to implement our commitment to life.
Please join me on Oct. 7, Respect Life Sunday, in renewing our commitment to treasuring, protecting and defending human life from conception to natural death. I have included on this same page the statement by our Metropolitan Archbishop, Cardinal William Keeler, concerning Respect Life Month and ask that you read it and reflect upon it throughout this month.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
