Wednesday, October 29, 2008

October is Respect Life Month

Once again, the Church has designated October as Respect Life Month. As Catholics, we can be proud to be a part of a Church that works to protect and defend the sanctity of human life. Here is a short video that deals with this issue: http://www.americaschoicenow.com/.

According to 2005 census estimates, the 50 million babies killed by abortion would exceed the COMBINED population of the fifty largest cities in the United States by 4 million. That's New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Ft. Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Louisville, Washington DC, Nashville, Las Vegas, Portland OR, Oklahoma City, Tucson, Albequerque, Long Beach, Atlanta, Fresno, Sacramento, New Orleans, Cleveland, Kansas City, Mesa, Virginia Beach, Omaha, Oakland, Miami, Tulsa, Honolulu, Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, and Arlington TX, PLUS 4 million (another Los Angeles.)

Can you imagine all those cities empty?

Pope John Paul II, in his letter Ecclesia in America, put it best: "Nowadays, in America as elsewhere in the world, a model of society appears to be emerging in which the powerful predominate, setting aside and even eliminating the powerless: I am thinking here of unborn children, helpless victims of abortion; the elderly and incurably ill, subjected at times to euthanasia; and the many other people relegated to the margins of society by consumerism and materialism. Nor can I fail to mention the unnecessary recourse to the death penalty when other “bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons. Today, given the means at the State's disposal to deal with crime and control those who commit it, without abandoning all hope of their redemption, the cases where it is absolutely necessary to do away with an offender 'are now very rare, even non-existent practically'”. This model of society bears the stamp of the culture of death, and is therefore in opposition to the Gospel message. Faced with this distressing reality, the Church community intends to commit itself all the more to the defense of the culture of life."

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