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Webinar Recordings Available
If you missed the recent Walking with Moms in Need webinars, the recordings are now available on our website:
walkingwithmoms.com/videos
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The Catholic University of America Launches Program to Support Moms on Campus | |
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The Guadalupe Project at Catholic University is aimed at building a culture of radical welcome for moms, dads, and babies on campus:
"No mother, father, or couple should have to take up this immense challenge alone. It is our sacred duty as a Catholic community to journey alongside families as they nourish new life in the womb and outside of it. We approach this vital goal with a profound sense of humility, and an awareness of room for improvement on our campus. We also approach it with a keen sense of hope: this is the moment for love to prevail, as we extend a hand to parents and their children, and especially to those who are most vulnerable as they learn of an unexpected pregnancy.
Living out this call requires not just words but actions; not just advocacy, but accompaniment. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, we have reflected on how we might better serve families on our campus. This report, and the changes it conveys across our University policies and operations, are the fruits of that effort...
We pledge that a pregnant unmarried student at Catholic University will be met with support and with love. The University stands ready to accompany any pregnant student through her pregnancy by assisting her with her material, spiritual, psychological, and physical needs, as well as with continuing to pursue the completion of her academic program. No pregnant mother – and no expectant father – on our campus should feel alone, and none will be alone if they allow the University to walk with them through this season."
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Brooklyn: Diocese Taking First Steps Toward ‘Walking With Moms in Need’ | |
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Paula Katinas
The Tablet
February 15, 2023
"Eager to prove that local parishes stand ready to help pregnant women who choose life over abortion in post-Roe America, the Diocese of Brooklyn is joining a nationwide program aimed at providing assistance and resources for mothers-to-be.
The diocese is about to take its first steps in 'Walking With Moms in Need,' an initiative started by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to bring care for pregnant women and mothers down to the parish level...
Christian Rada, director of Marriage, Family and Respect Life education for the diocese, said as a first step, he is asking the diocese’s parishes to conduct an inventory of their current programs assisting expectant mothers...
Rada also plans to conduct training sessions to explain the program. The USCCB has issued a 'Parish Action Guide' detailing five phases for establishing a Walking With Moms in Need program...
Parishioners will be able to map out a Walking With Moms in Need program unique to their particular parish. Some parishes will probably collect baby clothes, bottles, diapers, and other items to have on hand to give to mothers, while others will likely serve as resource guides to point women toward pregnancy centers and other entities that can help them...
Because of the structure of the diocese—the fact that its parishes are organized into 22 groupings called deaneries—parishes can readily bounce ideas off each other. 'Each of these deaneries has its own sense of identity and purpose with the neighborhoods that they are in. So we’re going to be looking for collaboration among different parishes,' Rada said. 'When they come together for a deanery meeting, they can say, ‘Hey, we were doing this for Walking with Moms. What are you guys doing?’
We’re hoping for an exchange of ideas. 'Our diocese is so diverse, and there is a need to help those out in the peripheries, especially those in the immigrant and homeless populations,' Rada added."
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Bishop Mark Brennan:
Supporting Mothers and Children in West Virginia
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The Intelligencer Wheeling News-Register
February 11, 2023
"... Today, with abortion on demand now in West Virginia’s rearview mirror, we have an opportunity to begin to heal the scars left by decades under the Roe regime. We can demonstrate that we mean what we say about the inherent and immeasurable value of every human life.
The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is working on it.
We are working to build resources at the Parish level under the banner of our initiative, 'Walking With Moms In Need.' This program is a readymade tool kit for our Parishes to identify and inventory local resources for pregnant mothers, identify interest and ideas for Parish-level responses to unexpected pregnancies, and readymade materials for organizing help and support for moms...
I encourage all people of goodwill to rally around these efforts, and similar endeavors where you find them. As West Virginians, we can pattern our communities on the love, hope, and optimism represented by the bond between mothers and their children."
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Archbishop William Lori: Person or Thing?
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Catholic Review
February 24, 2023
"... Science is touted by some as the sole source of truth – except when science yields some inconvenient indicators. Very early on, the child developing in the mother’s womb exhibits unmistakable signs of humanity: a distinctive DNA, brainwaves, the ability to feel pain, human features. Science would lead us to conclude that the child in the womb is not a thing but a person, indeed a vulnerable person in need of our protection.
When many expectant mothers see an ultrasound image of their unborn child and hear the child’s beating heart, they choose to bring their baby to birth. We should encourage and help them, especially mothers in difficult circumstances. That is why parish initiatives such as Walking with Moms in Need are so important. That is why pro-life pregnancy centers deserve our support, and why government assistance for mothers and their children should be supported, including by legislators opposed to abortion.
In 1979, when Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, she spoke about loving the poor and disenfranchised – a work to which she devoted her life. But she included among the poor and disenfranchised the unborn, the unwanted child. She spoke of the millions whose lives were taken by abortion. And she added that abortion is 'the greatest destroyer of peace.' If we can treat the unborn as a thing, not a person, we can treat anyone that way."
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Together for Life Rally draws scores to the Georgia Statehouse | |
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Andrew Nelson
The Georgia Bulletin
February 18, 2023
"... Keri Ninness leads the Walking with Moms in Need ministry at St. Joseph Church, Marietta. She said the ministry, which is promoted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is proactive to anticipate needs of women and families, has resources to wrap around women and families seeking help and is committed to aiding mothers while they are pregnant and for years following.
Women are in great need and face many hurdles to overcome when they are pregnant, she said.
'We are saying the answer is not abortion,' she said. 'We don’t think the answer to your pain is abortion.'
Ninness said groups committed to this cause need to connect with resources before the first call ever comes in from a woman. There needs to be [contact] made with area schools, doctors and other places with care so women who are stressed do not scramble for themselves with nowhere to turn, she said. This effort must be geared toward the long term, starting while the woman is pregnant to last years into the future as birthdays are celebrated, Ninness said."
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May The Gospel of Life spark widespread zeal for serving expectant mothers facing difficult circumstances.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...
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Our Prayer for Pregnant Mothers is available in English and Spanish for free download. It can also be ordered as a beautiful prayer card. |
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