At the core of our Catholic Tradition is the foundational belief that humanity is made in the imageand likeness of God, loved and redeemed by the Lord Jesus who assumed our humanity to show usthe Way. He is the Way of peace and justice. He must mark our path and our relations with oneanother.Human dignity stands at the core of our teaching on the sacredness of life, the centrality of thecommon good, the value of each human being, including the child in the womb. Whether it is DeathRow, Skid Row, or Cannery Row, there is not a person whom we can meet, who is not a belovedchild of God and has a claim on our love
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especially the most vulnerable.
The Catholic Church welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision as a step toward the greater
safeguarding of human dignity and the life of the child in the womb.
There is no morevulnerable person than a child in the womb, or pregnant woman with no support, with problems ofso many kinds
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illness, addiction, economic challenges, lack of spousal or family support,additional hungry children. The Church proclaims the importance of the protection, safeguardingand nurtur
ing of human life not only in the womb…. but throughout the journey of life. We ask all
people to be sensitive and willing to help pregnant women among us who are struggling with a lackof support. Their vulnerability has a strong claim on our love and assistance.We must continue to challenge our lawmakers and government leaders to provide adequate fundingand resources to vulnerable pregnant women and their families who may feel abandoned.Society is seemingly in a pandemic of violence or threats of violence. Thus, I ask for your prayersthat God will transform all of our hearts to peace. May we truly become beacons of Light andLove, living lives not of division and violence
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but peace and reconciliation.
Our parishcommunities must never become a center for confrontation and violence, but rather, as PopeFrancis calls us
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to be islands of mercy, field hospitals for the wounded and burdened,especially the most vulnerable, the pregnant mother and child.
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