Archdiocese of Detroit's pro-life office promotes ministries to help mothers, families | |
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Daniel Meloy
Detroit Catholic
November 14, 2022
""What’s next?'
That was both the title of the event and the question on everyone’s mind Nov. 13 at Holy Family Parish in Novi, where pro-lifers gathered to pick up the pieces and move forward after the passage of Proposal 3, which greatly expanded abortion in Michigan.
The answer, it seemed to most, was to do what the pro-life movement always does: continue to offer an alternative to abortion with faith, love and resolve...
Kathleen Wilson, pro-life coordinator for the Archdiocese of Detroit, spoke about what parishes can do to help men and women choose life...
More than 50 parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit are in the process of setting up Walking With Moms in Need programs, Wilson said, which provide information and resources for women who need assistance in carrying their pregnancies to term and caring for newborns.
Wilson highlighted various organizations present at Holy Family for the gathering, including Mother and Unborn Baby Care, the Knights of Columbus, Project Rachel, The Lennon Center, AAA Pregnancy Resource Center and Mary’s Mantle, as bastions of the pro-life movement.
'If you want to help, challenge yourself by asking, ‘What is God calling me to do?’' Wilson said. 'What's one more thing I might be able to do? The first one is volunteering.'..."
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Meet the Catholic bishop who began a pro-life ministry for pregnant women in need | |
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Katie Yoder
Catholic News Agency
November 26, 2022
"When the U.S. Catholic bishops first launched a nationwide initiative to help pregnant women in need, the chair of their pro-life committee envisioned every parish becoming a pro-life hub.
'Our hope was … that every parish ought to be a place where any woman can come,' Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City told CNA. 'And the parish would be really prepared to connect them with the best resources in the area — and hopefully, we have somebody that would walk with them through that process.'
Today, the bishops’ pro-life parish-based ministry, Walking with Moms in Need, promises to do just that — by encouraging Catholics to support and 'walk in the shoes' of local pregnant and parenting women facing difficult situations.
Naumann oversaw its launch in 2020 when he served as chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Now, two years later, the 73-year-old archbishop sees the ministry only gaining momentum after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a ruling that frees states to decide abortion policy..."
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Love is greater than fear when walking with moms in need
The Catholic Sun
November 18, 2022
"PHOENIX — On a sunny October weekend, the Diocese of Phoenix held its first LOVE > FEAR Conference, a Walking with Moms in Need formation event. Over a hundred enthusiastic parish leaders and volunteers brought their teams to pray and be formed for the mission of accompanying pregnant and parenting moms in need in a post-Roe world.
Attendees ranged from employed parish staff to respect life coordinators to volunteers who simply resonated with the spirit of service called for by Archbishops Naumann and Lori of the USCCB and enthusiastically promoted by Bishop Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix.
'I could not be more pleased with the quality and determination of the leaders who spent two full days immersing in the beauty and challenge of this call to be pro-life in our time,' said Mike Phelan, director of marriage and respect life. 'We simply have to trust in Jesus, our Lord of life, that He will provide all we need. And then we must just begin.'"
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Interview with Archbishop Cordileone Highlights the Need for Walking with Moms in Need | |
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Zelda Caldwell
Catholic News Agency
November 20, 2022
"What advice do you have for opponents of abortion in this post-Dobbs political climate?
We have to keep doing what we have been doing. I think the key is this Walking with Moms in Need [the U.S. bishops’ nationwide initiative to assist pregnant and parenting women]. We have to continue holding up what is real compassion for a woman in that situation, who’s scared, isolated, full of anxiety, under all kinds of pressure, and feeling lonely. She needs to be surrounded with love and support.
The answer is not violence. The answer is not killing. The answer is love and support. And we need to hold up, and I would hope—but I see a growing resistance to it—that even those who favor keeping abortion legal would favor giving women the full range of options. If she’s given information about what’s going on inside of her, if she’s given information about what her options are, and is given love and support and we walk with her, she will opt for life. I know this from crisis pregnancy clinics, that when they’re given that information, and they’re given love and support, 95% opt for life. So what we really need is for women to have real choice.
Unfortunately, women who are in the lower income [brackets] don’t really have choice. So we need to give them real choice. I think that’s the way we build the culture of life. Laws are important, and political advocacy is important. Our pro-life manifestations are important to help raise consciousness about it. But in a bitterly polarized society, we need to support the women in these situations and show where true love and compassion is..."
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Pro-life efforts call for ‘radical solidarity,’ Archbishop Lori says | |
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Christopher Gunty
Catholic Review
November 16, 2022
"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...
'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..."
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Honolulu: Parish Throws Baby Shower | |
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Hawaii Catholic Herald
November 23, 2022
"St. Ann Parish in Kaneohe will host its first event as part of the diocese-wide participation in the 'Walking with Moms in Need' program—a baby shower for expectant and new moms Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. at the parish.
'This baby shower is to welcome all pregnant moms and parenting moms to a unique baby shower just for them,' Valerie Streff, co-director of the Diocese of Honolulu’s Respect Life team, wrote in promoting the event.
'The goal is to bring an awareness to the public and parishioners that the Catholic Church is here to embrace, welcome and walk with mothers through any situation,' she said...
Streff said that she hopes other parishes will be able to replicate the event. She expects 30 parish Respect Life coordinators from throughout the islands to attend St. Ann’s shower."
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Sisters of Life Provide Online Formation Series On Accompanying Pregnant Women "Into Life" | |
INTO LIFE: Love Changes Everything is a free online formation program that includes 12 videos, support materials, and pastoral resources. The series is an adaptation of the Sisters of Life Co-Worker Training Day, hosted for lay co-workers. | |
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Participants in this course can expect to be introduced to the theological framework used by the Sisters of Life in their ministry to pregnant women, have the opportunity to pray and reflect on how a spirituality of life is manifest in their own lives, and discover what it truly means to walk with a woman through an unexpected pregnancy. The goals of the program are to cultivate and deepen a spirituality of life, to learn about the heart of the pregnant woman – her fears and her hopes – and to develop practical pastoral skills for effective listening and accompaniment.
This resource can be used to help parishes spiritually and practically prepare to accompany mothers as part of their Walking with Moms in Need efforts. The Diocese of Phoenix used the series as part of their recent conference.
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May the advent of the infant Jesus bring expectant mothers joy, hope, and peace.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...
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Our Prayer for Pregnant Mothers is available in English and Spanish for free online and to order as a beautiful prayer card.
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