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In the Heart of the Church |
STATEMENT ON 38th ANNIVERSARY OF ROE VS. WADE
Florida Bishops'
Conference
January 22, 2011
The first Sunday in October, since 1972,
has been set aside by the Catholic bishops in the United
States to pray for a culture of life and an end to
abortion. While surveys show there is growing support
for strict limits on the availability of abortion,
unborn babies are still dying from chemical and surgical
procedures that sometimes cause the death of the mother.
We are grateful for the decline in numbers to 82,000
reported abortions in Florida for 2009 but we grieve
over even one untimely death of one of God’s creations,
a unique and irreplaceable human being.
We are concerned about the growing chorus of voices in
society, even among the young people in our church, who
reject Church teaching about marriage as the proper
union where one man and one woman form a lifelong
partnership for the procreation and education of
offspring. The current infatuation with sex as a
recreational activity with little thought about the
person that could be created through the sexual union
only perpetuates abortion as a bad solution for what is
referred to as a “problem pregnancy.” Pornography,
sexting, prostitution and other ills distort the
sexuality with which God endowed humanity for the
expression of mutual self-giving love and perpetuation
of the human race.
For a pregnant woman at any stage of life who needs
emotional or material assistance for her and her unborn
child, the church offers help through crisis pregnancy
centers and parish programs such as Gabriel
Project. The growth of 40 Days for Life is proof that
people are willing and able to help others choose life
over the culture of death.
There are people who suffer from guilt and separation
from the Church because of participation in an abortion
at some point in their life. Healing and God’s love,
mercy and compassion are there for those who seek
confession for what one may feel is an “unforgiveable
sin.” Project Rachel and Rachel’s Vineyard, nationally
recognized post-abortion programs approved by the
Catholic Church, offer a confidential process for
healing and reconciliation.
The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every
other right, is the right to life itself. This is true
of life from the moment of conception until its natural
end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right—it
is the very opposite. (cf. Pope Benedict XVI, 2007
address to Austrian diplomatic corps).
We pray that our great nation will come back to its
founding principles, the first of which is that we are
all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain
inalienable rights, the most important being the right
to life.
PROJECT RACHEL – CALL TOLL FREE 888-456-4673 http://hopeafterabortion.com/
Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski
Archdiocese of Miami
Bishop Victor Galeone
Diocese of St. Augustine
Bishop Robert N. Lynch
Diocese of St. Petersburg
Bishop John G. Noonan
Diocese of Orlando
Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ
Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito
Diocese of Palm Beach
Bishop Frank J. Dewane
Diocese of Venice
Auxiliary Bishop Felipe J. Estévez
Archdiocese of Miami
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