Parish Respect Life Committees
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What is the Respect Life Program?
The annual Respect Life Program is a year-round, nationwide effort to help Catholics understand, value, and become engaged with building a culture that cherishes every human life. Although sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Respect Life Program is essentially comprised of the efforts of leaders throughout the Church like you—parish priests, staff, and volunteers; teachers and school administrators; diocesan leaders; and so many others. |
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How do I use these materials?
The Respect Life Program materials are intended to help leaders integrate respect for human life into their respective work and/or ministries. You are encouraged to adapt and build off the provided resources to fit your specific needs. The annual cycle of the Respect Life Program runs from Respect Life Sunday (the first Sunday of October) through the following September. Specific dates are sometimes suggested, but any of the materials can be used at any time. We also recommend that you build off the 2020-21. theme, “Christ Our Hope: In Every Season of Life.” |
What’s new this year?
As Pope John Paul II wrote, “We need to bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society” (Evangelium vitae 80). Our goal is therefore to help you integrate the Respect Life message into the very life of your parish, school, or ministry. Based on feedback from parishes and dioceses, this year’s approach focuses less on developing new materials and much more on using existing resources to build a culture of life.
As Pope John Paul II wrote, “We need to bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society” (Evangelium vitae 80). Our goal is therefore to help you integrate the Respect Life message into the very life of your parish, school, or ministry. Based on feedback from parishes and dioceses, this year’s approach focuses less on developing new materials and much more on using existing resources to build a culture of life.
"Respect Life"
It is important that all Catholics understand what is meant by “respect life”. Our Catholic faith is soundly based on the understanding and defense of the principle that all human life is sacred. Through the ‘USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life’ and through the Respect Life ministry within each parish there are unlimited opportunities for all to contribute in a meaningful way.
Regardless of whether touched by the Holy Spirit to participate in meetings and prayer vigils or to lead fundraisers and small groups or to counsel those in need one person at a time, there are opportunities to learn, to provide pastoral care, to participate in public policy and legislation, and to celebrate the gift of life through prayer and worship by getting involved with your parish Respect Life ministry.
All in the Catholic community are invited in a special way to be leaders in the campaign to build a “culture of life”.
- Lay persons and volunteers, who through their individual passions and unique responsibilities impact individuals and the broader community in a profound way when they assume roles of leadership in their parishes and in society.
- Priests, deacons, and religious, who exercise their responsibility to preach the word "in season and out of season" (cf. 2 Tm 4:2) in the pulpit, in other teaching roles, through parish programs, or through public support for pro-life projects.
- All church-sponsored or identifiably Catholic organizations involved in adult education and sacramental preparation, whether national, regional, diocesan, or parish-based.
- Teachers in schools, religious education programs, campus ministries, and church-sponsored educational agencies who provide factual information, moral teaching, and motivation to young people.
- Seminaries and houses of religious formation through their academic and pastoral ministry programs.
- Catholic social service and health care agencies through their educational seminars and other appropriate programs, including efforts to publicize programs and services providing alternatives to abortion, post-abortion reconciliation and healing, and care for those who are terminally ill or disabled.
- Catholic health care professionals through their provision of prenatal and postnatal care, genetic counseling, and other services in ways that witness to the sanctity of each human life.
- Catholic publications and periodicals through their articles, editorials, and advertising space promoting the Gospel of Life.
- Parents who, through discussion of critical life issues within the family and by their example and guidance, teach and help to mold their children in faith and respect for all human life from conception to natural death.
- All Catholics by proudly displaying pro-life bookmarks, bumper stickers, buttons, yard signs, jewelry, magnets, address labels, etc.
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Roles of Diocesan Respect Life Office & Parish Respect Life Coordinators For information on the role of a Parish Respect Life Coordinator, please click here.
For information on the role of the Diocesan Respect Life Office, please click here. |
Getting Started
- What are the current areas of interest for you and for your fellow parishioners?
- What unique skills, knowledge or talents do your committee members or your parishioners have that they would like to share?
- What other ministries exist within your parish and what needs within your parish are currently not being met?
- You will want to provide volunteer and donation opportunities for your committee members and for your parishioners. What existing pro-life organizations or activities are near your parish?
- Working closely with Respect Life committees from neighboring parishes can provide additional opportunities and resources. What other parish Respect Life committees exist within your area?
Parish Toolkits
In addition to providing on-line educational resources and referrals to local community partners and to other pro-life organizations, the Respect Life Office manages a set of pastoral care programs, each with a dedicated "program manager" that coordinates the program and the relationship between the diocese and the parishes for that particular program. For these pastoral care programs, "tool kits" have been created to assist with the development of parish ministries.
The benefits:
Below are the diocesan "tool kits" that are currently available to assist with the development of your own parish Respect Life ministry. To learn more, please contact the manager listed for each program.
The benefits:
- New Parish Respect Life Ministries -- Provides the necessary materials for small parish Respect Life Committees, or even a single individual who may not yet have the interest and support of others, to establish a viable parish Respect Life ministry from which to grow.
- Existing Parish Respect Life Ministries -- Provides a quick and easy way to kick-start additional programs by simply utilizing the diocesan resources that are already available.
- Experienced Parish Respect Life Committee Members -- Provides the opportunity to participate directly in the design, development and implementation of diocesan programs by serving on leadership committees or as a diocesan resource when another parish contacts the Respect Life Office with a requests for program assistance.
Below are the diocesan "tool kits" that are currently available to assist with the development of your own parish Respect Life ministry. To learn more, please contact the manager listed for each program.
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40 Days for Life is a community-based campaign that takes a determined, peaceful approach to showing local communities the consequences of abortion in their own neighborhoods, for their own friends and families. It puts into action a desire to cooperate with God in the carrying out of His plan for the end of abortion. It draws attention to the evil of abortion through the use of a three-point program:
Toolkit:
For more information on the complete program, please visit the diocesan 40 Days for Life webpage. |
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ComPassio is the diocesan program of education and documentation assistance for end-of-life issues.
Toolkit:
For more information on the complete program, please visit the ComPassio webpage. |
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Faith in Action is a Knights of Columbus program that seeks to balance the priorities of the Order — Faith, Family, Community and Life — and offer Knights meaningful opportunities to serve those in need within our parishes and communities.
Toolkit:
For more information on the complete program, please visit the Faith in Action webpage. |
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The March for Life Pilgrimage is a diocesan-hosted bus trip to Washington DC to participate in the Vigil for Life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the March for Life.
Toolkit:
For more information on the complete program, please visit the March for Life Pilgrimage webpage. |
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Project Rachel is the diocesan program to support and to provide healing to women and men who are suffering the emotional, psychological and spiritual pain of the decision to have an abortion.
Toolkit:
For more information on the complete program, please visit the Project Rachel webpage. |
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Spiritual Adoption is an age-appropriate family-friendly program in which participants pray for an unborn child, learn about fetal development, and celebrate with either a "baby shower" or a "birthday party".
Toolkit:
For more information on the complete program, please visit the Spiritual Adoption webpage. |
Additional Ideas
Here are some additional suggestions based on what other parishes have done...
- Develop, coordinate, and facilitate presentations for parishioners on the Church's teachings on the sanctity of life, the parish Respect Life ministry, and discussions on current pro-life topics in the news.
- Bring in local and regional pro-life speakers.
- Ask your parish Knights of Columbus council if you can speak at their next meeting.
- Link pro-life content into parish website or create a parish Respect Life webpage.
- Join or partner with other parish committees to host an educational or informational event on pro-life issues.
- Create podcasts or recordings on parish website for all parishioners to listen to and for fellow Parish Respect Life Committees to use in their respective parish activities.
- Develop a library of books, CDs, and DVDs that can be made available to parishioners and fellow Respect Life coordinators and committee members. Consider including topics on Church teaching, papal encyclicals, saints, and pro-life apologetics.
- Keep the narthex/vestibules stocked with pamphlets and brochures from the diocese or from USCCB.
- Have a booth at your annual Parish Ministry Fair.
- Work with your local radio and newspaper to advertise events and to support local merchants who are pro-life.
- Raise funds and sponsor pro-life billboards around town.
- Work with Newman Center and other student Christian organizations like the Student Baptist Center and Student Lutheran Organization to provide external speakers and support to pro-life activities on campus.
- Facilitate presentations on abstinence and other Theology of the Body topics for teens at the local high school.
- Sponsor guest speakers who can speak from firsthand knowledge about the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual scars of abortion. Also, experts who can speak authoritatively about the impact on society, the healthcare system, the government, the school system, and the criminal justice system and other important areas that people do not often consider.
- Create a section in your weekly parish bulletin to promote pro-life events and activities.
- Get a parish pro-life bulletin board and include information about current events (local, national, and international), pro-life pictures, statistics, parish Respect Life committee contact and meeting info, diocese Respect Life Office volunteer opportunities, donation information, Knights of Columbus events, information on local pregnancy resource clinics, Missouri Right to Life and other pro-life organization events, either your parish or the diocese Respect Life websites, Bible verses and pro-life reflections on today's readings, parish mens/womens group events, and pro-life (or popular but subtle pro-choice) book/movie reviews.
- Sponsor a Missouri Right to Life Mother's Day carnation fundraiser.
- Provide cards and other information on post-abortion counseling and healing via Project Rachel or Rachel's Vineyard.
- Organize/promote/participate in a local Life Chain event on Respect Life Sunday, the the first Sunday in October.
- Attend the annual Missouri Catholic Conference Annual Assembly in Jefferson City in the Fall.
- Work with the local organizations like Missouri Right to Life to co-sponsor pro-life posters, billboards, and signs for local pregnancy centers.
- Enter pro-life floats in local parades.
- Participate in local pro-life rallies on January 22, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision.
- Sponsor a March for Life Pilgrim from your parish.
- Create a parish prayer team to support one of the Respect Life Office pastoral care programs.
- Attend the annual Missouri Right to Life Pro-Life Lobby Day in Jefferson City in the Spring.
- If you are a health care professional, join the local Sts. Cosmas & Damian Guild of the Catholic Medical Association.
- Attend, or host a table at, your local annual Pregnancy Resource Clinic fundraiser banquet.
- Coordinate outreach activities with parish mens/womens groups (e.g. That Man is You, She Shall Be Called Woman, etc.).
- Participate in the Legion of Mary, a Catholic organization of prayer and service that visits parishioners, provides religious education, and organizes community services such as prison ministry.
- Facilitate a clothing drive for poor and/or abandoned pregnant mothers.
- Organize a gift bag program for new parish couples and for current parish couples who are newly married or expecting a new baby.
- Hold a bake sale to raise money for groups of parishioners in need, other parish ministries, and for external not-for-profit organizations like Birthright or Alexandra's House.
- Coordinate with Knights of Columbus or other organization to donate a trip to Washington DC for the March for Life as an item in your annual parish or high school fund-raiser auction. This will not only raise money for a great cause but also send someone to Washington DC, raise awareness for your parish Respect Life ministry, and build your relationship with the Knights of Columbus and other organizations
- Volunteer at a hospice home.
- Volunteer with Special Olympics
- Participate in liturgical ministries (lector, extraordinary minister, cantor, etc). It's not a sin to volunteer for these ministries knowing people will say, "Hey that's a member of our Respect Life team!"
- Lead a weekly pro-life rosary or hour of perpetual adoration for the unborn.
- Do a presentation on the Church's teaching on Catholics being involved in public policy along with instructions on how to write effective letters to legislators and to local newspaper editors.
