Priests for Life

(This is the 5th in my Lenten series to educate people on some of the leading Pro-Life Organizations. Another purpose is to encourage financial support for them. Unlike Planned Parenthood, these groups are dependant on private donations alone. By supporting these groups we can help speed up the day when PP & their ilk no longer commit murder with our money.)

This week our focus is on Priests For Life.

"Priests for Life was started in 1991* to do one of the most important tasks in the Church today . . . to help priests around the world spread the Gospel of Life to their people."

But PfL isn't just for priests. "Priests for Life is for everyone who wants to stop abortion and euthanasia. While primary membership is for Catholic bishops, priests and deacons, there is also a lay auxiliary membership for those who want to benefit from educational resources and networking among other pro-lifers. We also rejoice when ministers and faithful from other denominations associate themselves with our work and provide mutual support.

Working with laity has been an important concern of Priests For Life from the beginning. Besides motivating priests, we train and encourage the laity, and link up their initiatives and projects with the leadership of the clergy. Lay groups appreciate how important that leadership is, yet often feel they don't have enough of it. Priests for Life can provide that connection."

Their mission statement identifies four key goals of activity:
"a. unite, encourage, and provide ongoing training to priests and deacons who give a special emphasis to the "life issues", especially abortion and euthanasia, in their ministries;
b. instill a sense of urgency in all clergy to teach about these issues and to mobilize their people to help stop abortion and euthanasia;
c. assist clergy and laity to work together productively for the cause of life;
d. provide ongoing training and motivation to the entire pro-life movement."

OK, that is a simple summary of the organization & their work. But it doesn't tell the whole story. & that is what I will attempt to do in the rest of the post. Or at least give you an overview of what all they do. 1st a little more background.

PfL is an "Association of the Faithful". That is a category under Canon law which enables members of the Church who want to join such associations to work together to advance particular aspects of the work of the Church.

PfL was actually "started in San Francisco by a number of priests who wanted to activate and encourage their brother priests in the pro-life cause. Fr. Lee Kaylor was the first President of the organization. He came to know Fr. Frank Pavone and Fr. Jim Heyd, and eventually asked them to serve in leadership capacities. It was in 1993 that Fr. Frank Pavone became the first full-time director of Priests for Life, with the permission of Cardinal John O’Connor, and Fr. Jim Heyd became the first part-time Associate Director, with the permission of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. At that time the headquarters of Priests for Life moved from San Francisco to New York."

PfL is headed by Fr. Frank Pavone MEV. Originally a priest from the New York Archdiocese, he is now a priest of the Amarillo Diocese and serves full-time in pro-life leadership with his bishop’s permission. In 1993 he became National Director of Priests for Life. He is also the President of the National Pro-life Religious Council, and the National Pastoral Director of Rachel’s Vineyard, the world’s largest ministry of healing after abortion..

He is aided by Executive Director Janet Morana, P.D. She is also the Co-Founder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, the world’s largest mobilization of women and men who have lost children to abortion.

In addition to several other priests who work full time with PfL there are several lay associates. 1 of those is Dr. Alveda C. King, Director, African American Outreach. She is the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Theresa Karminski Burke, Ph.D. & Kevin Burke, MSS, LSW are the co-founders of Rachel's Vineyard, a PfL ministry (more later)

PfL runs several ministries. Like many of the other organizations I have mentioned, they provide speakers & educational materials for those working to defend life. They also have 2 telivision programs, Defending Life is seen on EWTN. Gospel of Life airs on Angel one Channel 101 on Sky Angel IPTV and on Dish Network channel 262. Every Wednesday, Fr. Pavone appears EWTN radio's Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Janet Moreno appears there every Friday. PfL also uses e-mail, videos, printed & other A/V materials as well.

Since I have already mentioned Rachel's Vineyard, I will look at that next. They minister to those who have been harmed by abortion, men & women, parents, grandparents siblings of aborted children, as well as persons who have been involved in the abortion industry. Through their weekend retreats & support groups they help to bring inner healing.

"The program is an opportunity to examine your abortion experience, identify the ways that the loss has impacted you in the past and present, and helps to acknowledge any unresolved feelings that many individuals struggle with after abortion. Because of the emotional numbness and secrecy that often surrounds an abortion experience, conflicting emotions both during and after the event may remain unresolved. These buried feelings can surface later and may be symptoms of post abortion trauma."

Another ministry closely related to this is the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. Silent No More was co-founded by Georgette Forney, President of Anglicans for Life (A Life-Affirming Ministry in the Worldwide Anglican Communion) and Janet Morana, Associate Director of Priests for Life. Dr. King is also a part of this campaign.

"The Silent No More Awareness Campaign is an effort to make the public aware of the devastation abortion brings to women, men, and their families. Our hope is that the emotional and physical pain of abortion will no longer be shrouded in secrecy and silence, but rather exposed and healed. Believing that women deserve better than abortion we pray this effort will make abortion unthinkable as every culture develops ways to help women and men embrace their pre-born children."

They do this by public appearances as well as through the mass media.

In addition to their basic focus of aiding priests, they have 3 ministries for Clergy and laity training. They are Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, Seminarians for Life & Deacons for Life.

Missionaries of the Gospel of Life is a religious order founded by Fr. Pavone. On 12 December 2005 Bishop John Yanta of the Diocese of Amarillo signed the constitution of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life. At that point they were officially establishing as a Society of Apostalic Rite. In addition there is a lay association for those who are single or married and want to do pro-life work in the context of the spirituality of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life.

Seminarians for Life focuses on the dissemination of pro-life information to seminarians. Deacons for Life focuses on helping those in the permanant deaconate.

Other outreaches include Political Responsibility and Government Outreach, Youth Outreach, African-American Outreach & Hispanic Outreach.

In addition there is Priests for Life Canada that obviously does the same work in Canada.

Priests for Life is also recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. At the UN besides attending meetings they collaborate with the Holy See and numerous pro-family NGOs to foster international policies protecting the dignity of human life at all stages.

They also provide many International Resources & ministries.

Like so many of the Pro-Life groups that I have looked at, all I can do is provide a very poor overview of their work. Please follow any of the links to find out more.

Next week: Pro-Life Action League

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Quotes taken from PfL & affiliated websites