The Catholic Church’s teaching on the respect for life is credible when it helps expectant mothers with a host of services based in love, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said Nov. 15 as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met for its annual fall meeting in Baltimore.
In a media briefing on the second day of the Nov. 14-17 meeting, Archbishop Lori, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said the pro-life movement calls for a “radical solidarity” with each other. He quoted St. Teresa of Kolkata, who said, “We belong to one another.”
Human dignity and the common good shape the church’s efforts, the archbishop said, and that includes both the mother and her unborn child.
“The child under her heart is already linked to a network; they are connected. And they are connected to her family and friends,” he said.
At the same time, all must “recognize that taking the life of another is never an option,” he said.
“Our teaching is credible when we jump in feet first with love, services” and finding out what expectant mothers need so that they don’t feel that abortion is their only option. Much of this can be done at the local level of Catholic parishes around the country.
The church needs to help mitigate the factors that drive many people to choose abortion as though it is their only option, he added. An effort launched last year by the USCCB called Walking with Moms in Need attempts to provide resources to women who are pregnant, especially at the parish level. Although parishes are not expected to provide such services as ultrasounds, the parish can be a clearinghouse with resources, information and referrals so that those who are seeking help can turn to a local church for help, as well as providing material aid such as diapers, formula and clothing.
In answer to a question about violence and vandalism against pro-life pregnancy centers, the archbishop said, “When we’re faced with violence, we speak of peace. When faced with ugliness, we respond with beauty. When faced with division, we speak of unity.”
The church must offer clear and compelling choices.
Noting that society is divided, as evidenced in recent civil elections, Archbishop Lori said, “The first step is that our own house needs to be united so that social justice and works of charity are linked with pro-life activities.” Issues such as juvenile justice are tied to the protection of preborn life and the needs of mothers. “Walking with Moms in Need does that well,” he said.
The church must build a culture of life and preach the Gospel of Life both within and beyond the church. “The advocacy we do in the face of imminent threats is important,” he said.
That advocacy must be preceded by a “continual tilling of the soil of people’s hearts” about the roots of the teachings that inspire the church to protect life from conception to natural death.
Since the Supreme Court Dobbs decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade and during the recent election cycle, many of those in favor of abortion rights framed it as reproductive choice and essential to women’s health care. “The church is deeply involved in providing health care. It’s not a talking point for us; it’s a ministry,” Archbishop Lori said.
In that light, the church can definitively say, “Abortion is not health care. Abortion does not save women’s lives.”
It is important for Catholic medical professionals, especially members of the Catholic Medical Association – to speak about this clearly – medically, professionally and theologically.
Asked whether the work toward racial justice he has done in the Archdiocese of Baltimore was a life issue, the archbishop said there is no contradiction that the church would protect the life of preborn children and work to eliminate racism in society in all forms. These convictions work together and reinforce one another, he said.
“A disproportionate number of babies in the minority community are aborted because of poverty,” Archbishop Lori said, and the church “needs to provide services – and most of all, love” for those in such communities.
In a presentation to the bishops on life issues and opportunities following the Dobbs decision, Archbishop Lori told the story of a young immigrant from Venezuela who, faced with a pregnancy, was unsure if she could bear the child. With the support of a pro-life pregnancy center, a parish and Catholic Charities, she was able to see an ultrasound picture of her unborn child and, with help to be eligible for employment in the U.S., made the choice to give birth.
In contrast to mothers who face overwhelming hurdles during pregnancy, many other women faced with pregnancy have adequate material means but have been convinced abortion is just a medical procedure with no long-term consequences.
“We bishops cannot pretend to understand what women in all circumstances are going through,” the archbishop said. “They are our sisters, and we are their brothers. … Their distress is our distress. Their struggle is our struggle. Their lives and the lives of their children are precious in our sight.”
He said, “We are bound to these women and to their unborn children by bonds of a common humanity, by bonds of radical solidarity” and added that abortion is a gruesome sign that we have forgotten that we belong to one another.
Bishops must take stock of the fact that some of their own flocks are on the fence about abortion.
“We do not win minds and hearts by changing our teaching but rather by laying open its heart and soul – our radical solidarity one with another. This means expressing our love and concern for mother and child, not merely during pregnancy or at the moment of delivery,” he said.
“It’s not just words but witness that helps convince many of our own people
of the rightness and the compassion at the heart of Church’s teaching on life.”
“A church which does more than any other institution except the federal government to address poverty, healthcare, education, housing, employment, addiction, criminal justice, domestic violence – cannot remain silent about abortion,” Archbishop Lori said.
“Similarly, a church that advocates passionately to protect the life of the unborn – recognizing the utterly defenseless condition of the preborn child – cannot ignore the deep social problems that push women toward having an abortion.”
The months since the Supreme Court June decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – which overturned Roe vs. Wade and returned the question of abortion to the states – and state referenda held since that decision show the struggles to defend life are not over, the archbishop said.
“We have not yet won. Even as we seek to win minds and hearts to the cause of life, we must continue to strive to win legal protection for the most vulnerable among us, confident that winning for them does not mean losing for others,” Archbishop Lori said.
His presentation was his last as chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities.
Archbishop Lori will give up the final two years of his term as chairman of the committee since he was elected Nov. 15 to be USCCB for the next three years.
Though he will give up the chairmanship on a topic near to his heart, Archbishop Lori told the Catholic Review, “I think I will still be in a position to be able to assist in our efforts to promote pro-life advocacy and ministry.”
Email Christopher Gunty at editor@catholicreview.org.
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