RESPECT LIFE MONTH

                The month of October each year is designated as Respect Life Month by the USCCB. In 1972, the Bishops of the United States inaugurated a Respect Life Program that begins anew each October. The program promotes respect for human life in light of our intrinsic dignity as having been created in God’s image and likeness and called to an eternal destiny with him.

                Each October during Respect Life Month, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops begins a new cycle of the Respect Life Program. It is a year-round, nationwide effort to help Catholics understand, value, and help cultivate respect for human life.

                This year’s theme, Christ our Hope: In Every Season of Life, is suited for the times in which we live. The attacks against human life seem to grow more numerous by the day. Through our Christian hope in the resurrection, we are given the grace to persevere in faith.

                During the 2019-2020 Respect Life Program cycle, we also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the papal encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life), written by St. John Paul II. As Evangelium vitae highlights, “Together we may offer this world of our ours new signs of hope, and work to ensure that justice and solidarity will increase and that a new culture of human life will be affirmed, for the building of an authentic civilization of truth and love” (EV6).

                The U.S. bishops are asking Catholics to mark Respect Life Month through prayer, education and advocacy. This is a vital opportunity for Catholics to spark a renewal of love and commitment to the true good of others.