A Campaign in Support of Life. In our present social context, marked by a dramatic struggle between the . All together, we must build a new culture of life.- Blessed John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, no. Introduction. We issue this Pastoral Plan for Pro- Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life to put forth . As pastors and teachers, we proclaim that human life is a precious gift from God; that each person who receives this gift has responsibilities toward God, self, and others; and that society, through its laws and social institutions, must protect and nurture human life at every stage of its existence. These beliefs flow from ordinary reason and from our faith's constant witness that . Christian message since the apostolic age. A Consistent Ethic of Life. A wide spectrum of issues touches on the protection of human life and the promotion of human dignity. As Pope John Paul II has reminded us: . It cannot tolerate bias and discrimination, for human life is sacred and inviolable at every stage and in every situation; it is an indivisible good. Among important issues involving the dignity of human life with which the Church is concerned, abortion necessarily plays a central role. Abortion, the direct killing of an innocent human being, is always gravely immoral (The Gospel of Life, no. It is imperative that those who are called to serve the least among us give urgent attention and priority to this issue of justice. This focus and the Church's commitment to a consistent ethic of life complement one another. A consistent ethic of life, which explains the Church's teaching at the level of moral principle—far from diminishing concern for abortion and euthanasia or equating all issues touching on the dignity of human life—recognizes instead the distinctive character of each issue while giving each its proper place within a coherent moral vision. As bishops of the United States we have issued pastoral letters on war and peace, economic justice, and other social questions affecting the dignity of human life—and we have implemented programs for advancing the Church's witness in these areas through parishes, schools, and other Church institutions (e. Communities of Salt and Light . Taken together, these diverse pastoral statements and practical programs constitute no mere assortment of unrelated initiatives but rather a consistent strategy in support of all human life in its various stages and circumstances. To focus on the evil of deliberate killing in abortion and euthanasia is not to ignore the many other urgent conditions that demean human dignity and threaten human rights. Opposing abortion and euthanasia . Any politics of human life must work to resist the violence of war and the scandal of capital punishment. Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing and health care. We pray that Catholics will be advocates for the weak and the marginalized in all these areas. Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the 'rightness' of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community. Pervasive Threats to Human Life. Where does one begin? Today, when human rights are proudly proclaimed and the value of life itself given public affirmation, the most basic of all human rights, . Sometimes very difficult or even tragic situations can be the basis for decisions made against life, circumstances that can diminish the personal culpability of those who make choices that in themselves are evil. But as Pope John Paul II points out, today the problem goes further: . Thus some behaviors are always wrong, always incompatible with our love of God and the dignity of the human person. View and Download Brother MFC-8880DN user manual online. Brother Multifunction Printer User's Guide. MFC-8880DN All in One Printer pdf manual download. OWNER’S MANUAL LE1933001 2 Printed in China These machines are made for use in the USA and CANADA only. We cannot recommend using them overseas because it may. Handle System Proxy Server. The web form below will enable you to resolve individual handles and view their associated values. It uses a proxy server, which. The laden phrase “identity politics” has come to signify a wide range of political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of. Abortion, the direct taking of innocent human life prior to birth, is always morally wrong, as is the deliberate destruction of human embryos for any reason. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are not acts of mercy but acts that are never morally acceptable. Direct attacks on innocent civilians during war and terrorist acts targeting noncombatants must always be condemned. Our concern is only intensified by the realization that a policy and practice that result in well over a million deaths from abortions each year cannot but diminish respect for life in other areas. In this pastoral plan, then, . Likewise, protection in law and practice of unborn human life will benefit all life, not only the lives of the unborn. This is why we focus here on the pervasive threat to human life arising from the widespread recourse to abortion, from public policies that allow, encourage, and even fund abortion, and from a growing effort to promote the taking of human life through euthanasia. The Legacy of Roe v. Wade. In January 1. Supreme Court of the United States gave our nation Roe v. Wade and its companion decision Doe v. Bolton, and in so doing effectively removed every legal protection from human beings prior to birth. The legacy of Roe is virtually incalculable. In its wake it has left death and sorrow and turmoil: the deaths of millions whose lives were destroyed before birth and even during the very process of being borncountless women traumatized so deeply by abortion that they spend years struggling to find peace, healing, and reconciliationmen who grieve because they could not . Often they are carried out at the urging of fathers who, rather than protecting their child, believe their only responsibility is to help pay for an abortion. And today, those who support and provide abortion freely acknowledge that killing is involved, and choices once treated as criminal and rejected by the common moral sense have become socially acceptable. In 1. 99. 2, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe v. Home Contact Terms Privacy. We are a strategic consulting company providing product and menu development, market research and content marketing services to. Wade—in large part, it said, because admitting error and reversing a prior decision would undermine the Court's authority. In other words, Americans had come to rely on legalized abortion as a backup for contraceptive failure. In 2. 00. 0, in Stenberg v. Carhart, the Court expanded the abortion liberty beyond killing in utero; it now wrapped in the mantle of the U. S. Constitution the practice of killing during the process of birth. Abortion has come to be seen by many not only as a . This is clear in regard to partial- birth abortion, as well as in the growing reports of children who, having survived mid- and late- term abortions, are put aside and left to die because they were not supposed to live in the first place. Today, some seek ways to alleviate human diseases through research that involves the deliberate destruction of human embryos. Such research, it is claimed, will enhance human life, when in actuality it . Often these embryos that are targeted for experimentation were created in laboratories by in vitro fertilization in attempts to assist couples struggling with infertility. Such efforts, however, embrace the manufacturing of human life without considering the consequences, including the many ethical dilemmas resulting from such misuse of scientific technology. A Word About Violence. Our goal is to eliminate violence against unborn children, their mothers, and those who are dying. We unalterably oppose the use of violence in any form to achieve this objective, and we condemn the actions of those few who advocate otherwise. During the past decade, several persons involved in the practice of abortion have been killed, and others have been harmed, by tragically misguided individuals claiming to be pro- life. Such violence against human beings is indefensible. It is an offense against God's command: you shall not kill. It also unjustly stigmatizes the pro- life movement in the eyes of many Americans as being violent and intolerant. We abhor and condemn such violence unequivocally. Abortion and Contraception. The Church's teaching and pastoral efforts on responsible parenthood are appropriately treated more fully in other documents. However, we address the issue here, because some promote widespread use of contraception as a means to reduce abortions and even criticize the Church for not accepting this approach. It is noteworthy that as acceptance and use of contraception have increased in our society, so have acceptance and use of abortion. Couples who unintentionally conceive a child while using contraception are far more likely to resort to abortion than others. Tragically, our society has fallen into a mentality that views children as a burden and invites many to consider abortion as a . This is most obvious in efforts to promote as . It is important to remember that means that are referred to as . An end to abortion will not come from contraceptive campaigns but from a deeper understanding of our human sexuality, and of human life, as sacred gifts deserving our careful stewardship. The Issue of Capital Punishment. The United States is the only Western industrialized nation today that utilizes capital punishment. Increasingly the bishops have spoken out against its use, and Pope John Paul II and individual bishops have sought clemency for persons scheduled to be executed. There are compelling reasons for opposing capital punishment—its sheer inhumanity and its absolute finality, as well as concern about its inequitable use and an imperfect legal system that has sentenced innocent people to death. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: . Executing the guilty does not honor one who was killed, nor does it ennoble the living or even lessen their pain, for only love and forgiveness can do that. State- sanctioned killing affects us all because it diminishes the value we place on all human life. Capital punishment also cuts short the guilty person's opportunity for spiritual conversion and repentance.
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