Bishop's Message: Respect Life Month

Each October, the Catholic Church celebrates Respect Life Month. Through Sacred Scripture and 2000 years of the Church’s Sacred Tradition, we are called to recognize and faithfully protect the sanctity of all human life.

Although the Supreme Court recently ended the nearly 50-year availability of abortion on demand, concluding that there is nothing in either the United States Constitution, American legal tradition, or the Court’s precedents that justified abortion on demand, we must remain resolute in speaking out strongly and courageously for the unborn, the infirmed, the disabled, the elderly and anyone whose dignity and value is threatened. 

We must also recommit ourselves in accompanying mothers and fathers who might be confronted with an unexpected pregnancy. In collaboration with the Office of Life, Marriage and Family and Catholic Charities of Central Texas, parishes and the faithful throughout the diocese are invited to participate in Walking with Moms in Need. I pray that each of us becomes a voice for the unborn, a source of comfort and compassion to women, men and families by learning more about pro-life initiatives at this link.

Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  I invite the faithful to join me in praying the rosary for the most vulnerable in our society – the unborn – and for a culture in which life, at all stages, is indeed respected, cherished and protected.