The Gospel Of Life
Pope John Paul II, in his ad limina remarks to the bishops of Hawaii, Nevada and California, has called on the American public to actively become involved in making alternatives to abortion available. Many Church leaders, by their example, teach us that we have a duty to protect life at every stage (See Inperson, Page 1).
Those who would defend life must make alternatives to abortion increasingly visible and available. Your recent pastoral statement, Lights and Shadows, draws attention to the need to support women in crisis pregnancies, and to provide counseling services for those who have had an abortion and must cope with its psychological and spiritual effects. Likewise, the unconditional defense of life must always include the message that true healing is possible, through reconciliation with the Body of Christ. In the spirit of the coming Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, American Catholics should be more than ever willing to open their hearts and their homes to “unwanted” and abandoned children, to young people in difficulty, to the handicapped and those who have no one to care for them.
