Culture of Life

BUILDING A CULTURE OF LIFE ON JANUARY 22, 2015, POPE FRANCIS SENT A TWEET TO THE VAST CROWD GATHERED FOR THE MARCH FOR LIFE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. THE POPE’S TWEET SAID, “LIFE IS A GIFT.” MORE AND MORE, PEOPLE SEEM TO BE GETTING THAT MESSAGE. THOUGH THE NEWS MEDIA DOES NOT TELL YOU, THE PRO- DEATH MOVEMENT IS GROWING WEAKER BY THE DAY, OFTEN BECAUSE OF ITS OWN INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS. FOLLOWING DISCOVERY OF ABORTION CLINICS WITH UNSANITARY AND HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS, UNSAFE MEDICAL PRACTICES, UNLICENSED PERSONNEL, AND BOTCHED ABORTIONS RESULTING IN INJURIES AND DEATH, MORE AND MORE ABORTION CLINICS ARE BEING SHUT DOWN AND THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS NATIONALLY CONTINUES TO DECLINE. PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTIONS, MAINLY DONE IN THE THIRD TRIMESTER, ARE NOW ILLEGAL, AND STATES ARE NOW MOVING TO BAN BRUTAL SECOND TRIMESTER DISMEMBERMENT ABORTIONS. MORE AND MORE LEGISLATURES ARE EVEN BANNING ANY ABORTIONS AFTER 20 WEEKS WHEN THE UNBORN CHILD CAN FEEL PAIN. MOREOVER, IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, STATE LEGISLATURES Building a Culture of Life 4/15 HAVE PASSED MORE PRO-LIFE BILLS THAN IN THE PREVIOUS 10 YEARS COMBINED! WE EXPECT THESE LEGISLATIVE SUCCESSES TO CONTINUE, AS POLLS SHOW THAT THE YOUNGER GENERATION IS THE MOST PRO-LIFE GENERATION IN OUR NATION’S HISTORY! AS THE NUMBERS OF ABORTION CLINICS AND ABORTIONS DECLINE, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF PRO-LIFE PREGNANCY CARE CENTERS OFFER PREGNANT WOMEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW THEIR UNBORN CHILD ON ULTRASOUND MACHINES FUNDED BY THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS. SINCE 2009, THE ORDER’S ULTRASOUND INITIATIVE HAS HELPED STATE AND LOCAL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COUNCILS TO PARTNER WITH THE SUPREME COUNCIL TO CONTRIBUTE OVER $36 MILLION TO PREGNANCY CARE CENTERS FOR THE PURCHASE OF MORE THAN 750 ULTRASOUND MACHINES IN CANADA, JAMAICA, GUATEMALA, AND ALL 50 U.S. STATES. EACH MACHINE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SAVE HUNDREDS, EVEN THOUSANDS, OF LIVES! SUPREME KNIGHT CARL ANDERSON HAS SAID OF THE ULTRASOUND INITIATIVE: “IT IS, WITHOUT DOUBT, THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRO-LIFE PROGRAM WE HAVE EVER UNDERTAKEN. IT SAVES LIVES EACH AND EVERY DAY. AND WITH EACH WOMAN WHO Building a Culture of Life 4/15 SEES AN IMAGE OF HER CHILD, WE CONTINUIE TO TURN THE TIDE OF PUBLIC OPINION, ONE PERSON AT A TIME.” IN ADDITON TO PROVIDING ULTRASOUND MACHINES, KNIGHTS HAVE SUPPORTED PREGNANCY CARE CENTERS WITH DIAPER DRIVES AND BABY SHOWERS, HAVE RAISED FUNDS THROUGH “BABY BOTTLE BOMMERANGS,” DONATED MATERNITY AND BABY CLOTHES, CAR SEATS AND BABY FURNITURE. KNIGHTS HAVE SUPPORTED THE MARCH FOR LIFE IN WASHINGTON, D.C., THE WALK FOR LIFE – WEST COAST IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE NATIONAL MARCH FOR LIFE IN OTTAWA, AND OTHER MARCHES AND WALKS FOR LIFE IN MAJOR CITIES THROUGHOUT THE PHILIPPINES, AND IN OTHER TOWNS AND CITIES THROUGHOUT THE ORDER. KNIGHTS HAVE SPONSORED PRO-LIFE CONFERENCES AND BILLBOARDS, PUT UP CROSSES TO FORM “CEMETERIES OF THE INNOCENTS,” AND SPIRITUALLY ADOPTED UNBORN CHILDREN. EACH YEAR ON MARCH 25, THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION, KNIGHTS CELEBRATE THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE UNBORN CHILD WITH ROSARIES AND SPECIAL MASSES FOR UNBORN CHILDREN AND THEIR MOTHERS. Building a Culture of Life 4/15 TO EACH WOMAN FACING A DIFFICULT PREGNANCY, WE SAY: “PLEASE KNOW THERE IS A BETTER CHOICE - CHOOSE LIFE!” THEN WE GIVE HER THE HELP SHE NEEDS TO GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE TO HER CHILD! SHE NEEDS TO BE GIVEN REAL CHOICES. SHE NEEDS TO KNOW THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO ABORTION, SUCH AS ADOPTION. THERE ARE LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LOVING COUPLES EAGER TO ADOPT A CHILD INTO THEIR HOME. THERE ARE ALSO THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES AND VOLUNTEER GROUPS READY TO OFFER HER COMPASSIONATE CARE DURING PREGNANCY AND TO HELP HER GET BACK ON HER FEET AFTER HER CHILD IS BORN. WE NEED TO TELL HER, “MAKE THE CHOICE YOU WILL NEVER REGRET, THE ONE THAT WILL GIVE YOU PEACE OF MIND FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS. CHOOSE LIFE. THE NATURAL CHOICE IS LIFE.” STILL, SOME CLAIM THE CULTURE OF LIFE MOVEMENT IS A SINGLE-ISSUE CONSTITUENCY. THEY SAY WE CARE LITTLE ABOUT HUMAN LIFE AFTER BIRTH. THE FACTS PROVE OTHERWISE. SURVEY FIGURES SHOW THAT EACH YEAR THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS DONATES MILLIONS OF Building a Culture of Life 4/15 DOLLARS AND MANY VOLUNTEER HOURS TO HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE DISABLED, HOMELESS, HUNGRY, SICK, ELDERLY, AND POOR. IN JUST ONE RECENT YEAR, ORDERWIDE CHARITABLE GIVING FIGURES TOTALED 70 MILLION HOURS OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE AND OVER $170 MILLION. KNIGHTS SPONSOR PROGRAMS SUCH AS “COATS FOR KIDS” AND “FOOD FOR FAMILIES,” CONDUCT BLOOD DRIVES, SUPPORT SPECIAL OLYMPICS, BUILD HOMES THROUGH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, DISTRIBUTE WHEELCHAIRS THROUGH THE GLOBAL WHEELCHAIR MISSION, AND HAS PARTNERED WITH PROJECT MEDSHARE TO PROVIDE ARTIFICIAL LIMBS TO CHILDREN WHO WERE VICTIMS OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI. WE CARE. WE CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF ALL OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND, YES, WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE AS A SACRED GIFT OF GOD. OUR SUPREME CHAPLAIN, ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM LORI OF BALTIMORE, HAS ELOQUENTLY EXPRESSED EXACTLY WHAT IS AT STAKE IN OUR BATTLE AGAINST THE CULTURE OF DEATH. HE SAID: Building a Culture of Life 4/15 “THE TAKING OF DEFENSELESS, INNOCENT HUMAN LIFE IN THE WOMB, IN MANY CASES RIGHT UP THE VERY MOMENT OF BIRTH, IS NOT THE MERE VIOLATION OF A SECTARIAN TENET, BUT RATHER A FUNDAMENTAL DENIAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS. TO BE SURE, NOT EVERY MORAL PROHIBITION IS TO BE ENSHRINED IN CIVIL LAW. YET, AS SAINT JOHN PAUL II REMINDS US, ‘THE REAL PURPOSE OF CIVIL LAW IS TO GUARANTEE AN ORDERED SOCIAL COEXISTENCE IN TRUE JUSTICE.’ AND FOR THAT REASON, ‘CIVIL LAW MUST ENSURE THAT ALL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY ENJOY RESPECT FOR CERTAIN FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS WHICH INNATELY BELONG TO THE PERSON…’ (EVANGELIUM VITAE, 71). THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT IS THE RIGHT TO LIFE FROM CONCEPTION TO NATURAL DEATH.” AS THE BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS MOVES CLOSER TO THE BEGINNING OF LIFE AT CONCEPTION, A NEW BATTLE FRONT IS OPENING AT THE END OF LIFE. PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE BILLS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED IN MORE THAN A DOZEN STATE LEGISLATURES. HOWEVER, PRO- LIFE FORCES, WITH STRONG SUPPORT FROM THE MEDICAL, HOSPICE, AND DISABILITY RIGHTS COMMUNITIES, HAVE BEEN Building a Culture of Life 4/15 MEETING THOSE BILLS WITH STRONG AND DETERMINED OPPOSITION. THUS, WE ARE DEFENDING LIFE AT ITS BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END. IN AGREEMENT WITH WHAT POPE FRANCIS SAID IN HIS TWEET, WE BELIEVE THAT LIFE IS A SACRED GIFT OF GOD. YET, IT IS IRONIC THAT, WHILE THE DEATH PENALTY HAS BEEN ALMOST ELIMINATED FOR THE GUILTY, SOME IN SOCIETY INCREASINGLY CONDONE THE KILLING OF THE INNOCENT. WE MUST CORRECT THOSE WHO THINK ABORTION, PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA ARE SOME FORMS OF MEDICAL CARE, WHEN, IN REALITY, THEY ARE SIMPLY DIFFERENT, AND BARBARIC, WAYS TO KILL. WHO SPEAKS FOR THE VICTIMS OF WHAT SAINT POPE JOHN PAUL II CALLED THE “CULTURE OF DEATH”? WE DO! AND, INCREASINGLY, PUBLIC OPINION IS BECOMING MORE PRO-LIFE. Building a Culture of Life 4/15 WE BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE WILL EMBRACE REASON AND COMPASSION AND HEED POPE FRANCIS’ MESSAGE THAT LIFE IS A GIFT. BECAUSE WE ARE PEOPLE OF LIFE AND FOR LIFE, WE BELIEVE THAT, BY HELPING PEOPLE TO SEE LIFE AS A GIFT, OUR CULTURE IS ALREADY TURNING AWAY FROM THE EVILS OF ABORTION, AND STRONGLY RESISTING ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA. THUS, UPON THAT FOUNDATION, WE HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO BUILD A CULTURE OF LIFE. WE HAVE ALREADY BEGUN BUILDING A CIVILIZATION OF LOVE. IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S PLAN, LET US CONTINUE TO WORK AND TO PRAY THAT THE CULTURE OF LIFE AND THE CIVILIZATION OF LOVE WILL GROW BIGGER AND STRONGER, AND MORE LOVING, EVERY DAY! THANK YOU. Building a Culture of Life 4/15 .

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