Dear Friends,
“Life: Our Sign of Hope!”
For over five decades, the Catholic Church in the United States has dedicated the month of October as a special season to promote a culture of life throughout our land. This year’s theme is linked to the great Jubilee Year of Hope and emphasizes the belief that every human life is a precious gift from God, especially the most vulnerable. It encourages us to promote and defend life, recognizing it as a sign of God’s promise and love.
Despite the hope that was generated with the overturning of Roe v. Wade three years ago, the challenge to protect human life has not diminished. It has merely shifted from being a national issue to a state issue. Sadly, because our world is so often hostile to the truth of the Gospel of Life that we embrace, proclaiming the sanctity of human life can be challenging at best. In many arenas, defense of unborn lives, the lives of those who are disabled or dying, or the lives of any vulnerable human population is met with resistance. Proclaiming the Church’s teaching on topics like abortion, assisted suicide, and the death penalty can provoke challenging and emotional responses from those who disagree. And often, we may find ourselves afraid to speak up about these issues in our families, among our coworkers, or with students in our school community. We may fear disagreement, judgement, confrontation, or misunderstanding.
But as our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, encourages us, “How important it is that each and every baptized person feel himself or herself called by God to be a sign of hope in the world today.”
Brothers and sisters, we bring hope to our world whenever we lift our voices in opposition to threats to our belief in the dignity and value of the human person – from abortion to euthanasia to the death penalty, human trafficking, and unjust immigration laws. We bring hope to our world not merely through self-righteous criticisms of those whose beliefs may be different than our own – but through the respect and dignity that we afford to every person we encounter, regardless of their lifestyle, their country of origin or economic status.
In anticipation of our commemoration of this cherished month devoted to respect for human life, I invite you to join me in traveling to our state capital of Harrisburg on Monday, September 22, 2025, where we will join with thousands of faithful souls from around our Commonwealth for the annual Pennsylvania March for Life. On that day, the message of countless numbers of faithful disciples of Jesus and brothers and sisters from different faith traditions will once again proclaim the value of human life as the treasured gift of God that it is.
Shortly after his election, Pope Leo shared these words to diplomats from countries around the world: “It is the responsibility of world leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies.” He continued, “No one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.”
Therein, we discover our responsibility as disciples of Jesus as well as our true and lasting hope!
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton