Dear Friends,
During his pastoral visit to Spain earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV shared these words: “The defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization. Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence. When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person. For this reason, the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile.”
While the Holy Father addressed these words to the people of Spain, he could have just as easily addressed these words to most any country in the world, including our own. For every step forward that has been achieved in the endless battle to protect human life, there is always an equal and opposite step taken that diminishes respect and reverence for the sanctity of God’s greatest gift.
Human life continues to be threatened far more today than we realize or are willing to acknowledge. While the decades-long fight to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, was finally won in 2022, authority to regulate or ban the procedure was returned to individual states. As such, although abortion is prohibited or very limited in numerous states, in August, Massachusetts became the tenth state to allow the procedure at any point in a pregnancy.
What is more, euthanasia and assisted suicide practices are increasingly prevalent in various parts of the world, with assisted suicide currently authorized in thirteen states in our own land. The death penalty, opposed by the Church in recent papal pronouncements, continues to be an option for the punishment of certain crimes. Efforts to achieve human cloning and illicit reproductive technologies continue to be developed. And human trafficking is rampant as well as unjust immigration laws and actions that serve to diminish the dignity of God’s people.
The good news, however, is that the voices of faithful, selfless disciples of Jesus and countless others from different faith traditions continue to be heard in our world, proclaiming the value of human life as the treasured gift of God that it is.
The theme for this year’s Respect Life Month focuses on the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of Life. In becoming the mother of Jesus, her acceptance in that unplanned and unforeseen moment demonstrates how each of us is called to welcome the gift of human life, even when that gift is unexpected or calls us to make sacrifices.
This past July in his monthly prayer request, Pope Leo urged Catholics across the globe to join him in praying for respect for human life.
In his prayer, the Pope recognized that “each person is a sacred gift, from the first instant of existence to the final breath of their journey on earth.” He expressed his wish that we learn to “welcome life unconditionally,” to “accompany each stage with respect,” and “to bravely defend those who have no voice.” And the Holy Father concluded his prayer – as I do this letter – by imploring the Lord “to help His Church become a living witness of the Gospel of life, an open home where every life is celebrated, where no one feels unwanted, and where dignity is always honored and protected.”
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton