Gospel for Life Committee Goals: 2007-11
Mission: The Diocesan Gospel of Life Committee will serve as a resource, advise, communicate and encourage the implementation of the National Catholic Bishops’ pastoral plan for promoting and teaching the Gospel of Life.
Objectives
A. Initiate and sustain all other efforts on behalf of life through prayer, fasting and reflection on the Gospel of Life.
B. Inform and educate our own parishes, as well as the general public, to deepen understanding of the humanity of the unborn, the sanctity of life, the moral evil of abortion, and the consistent efforts of the church to witness on behalf of all human life.
C. Support a pastoral effort addressed to the special needs of women with problems related to pregnancy, of men and women struggling to accept responsibility for their power to generate human life and of all persons who have taken part in an abortion.
D. Encourage and serve as a resource for a public policy effort directed at promoting the Gospel of Life in all its social and political aspects.
Upcoming Events:
Mass for Life 1-22-12 at 6:00 PM at Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish in Owensboro. Come join us as we mark the 39th year since the U.S. Supreme Court decision took away all legal protection for the life of the unborn child. Now over 53 million children have died. All are invited to remember these children as we pray for their mothers, fathers, families and our nation.
March for Life Bus Trip to Washington D.C: Departs 1-21-12 at 8:00 PM from Catholic Pastoral Center in Owensboro to the Hyatt Hotel for two nights. Take part in the March on 1-23=12 and return to Owensboro in early morning of 1-25-12. Cost is $300 for hotel and bus trip; food and other expenses on your own. Current deadline to commit to going is 12-28-11. Contact Richard Murphy at 270/683-1545 for more information.
Minutes from Recent Meeting
Diocesan Gospel of Life Committee
Minutes
November 17, 2011
Present were: Nick Nichols, Brenda Thompson, Birgit Jones, Joan Frey, David and Nancy Wolfe, and Richard Murphy.
The meeting opened with a prayer.
Minutes were accepted as published.
Old Business
1. March for Life Planning
The Subcommittee reported on activity thus far regarding the March for Life bus trip. The members of this committee are David and Nancy Wolfe, Birgit Jones, Cami Frey and Richard Murphy. The Subcommittee reported that the intention was to provide a 55 passenger bus supplied by Toby Tours for the trip. The cost of the bus would be $5930. There were an estimated 36 people that have indicated an interest in going. There were 19 seats left to fill. It was agreed that the deadline for sending in a deposit would be extended to December 28, 2011. This new deadline would be featured in a follow-up story in the Western Kentucky Catholic in the December issue and hopefully be accompanied by an ad, near the front of the paper. Bulletin announcements would also go out to the parishes informing church members of this new deadline date. Since there would be a number of youth on the trip, all adults on the trip would need to be Safe Environment certified. The Youth Mass must have tickets for participants to take part in it. Richard agreed to discuss this with me OCHS adult sponsors. The Subcommittee agreed to a conference call to take place on November 29, 2011 at 1:30 PM to discuss further developments.
2. Right to Life Gatherings and Other Respect Life Month Activities
There were Right to Life Banquets held in both Owensboro and Bowling Green. Birgit Jones reported that there were over 800 people present on October 20, 2011 with an Owensboro meeting. The speaker was Abby Johnson, a former manager of the Dallas Planned Parenthood office. Her presentation was well received and the event was financially successful for the organization. A report was not available for the Bowling Green event.
Life Chain was also held in both Owensboro and Bowling Green on Sunday, October 2, 2011. Attendance at the Owensboro location appeared to be light. The weather was moderate and signage was available for all.
40 Days for Life occurred in October and early November 2011. Individuals participating prayed in front of the Planned Parenthood office in Evansville Indiana. This event went on nationwide during the period, and Birgit Jones shared that there were an estimated 500 confirmed children say nationwide.
3. Billboards for Life
Joan Frey shared that she continued to look for help in running the operation. She indicated that she was currently investigating a prospect and would share further information is available. Joan reported that she had spoken, or would soon have appointments at Precious Blood Parish, St. Joseph and Paul Parish, and St. Pius X Parish. She was looking for someone else to speak at these events. Billboards for Life has about $3800 currently in savings for future operations. They were currently five billboards in the Daviess County area.
4. Garden of Hope Progress
David and Nancy Wolfe shared information about a message center that could possibly be used at the site. The supply catalog showed a message center made of recycled plastic featuring one post and a lockable corkboard message area. The cost was $323. It would be necessary to share this information with the President’s office of Brescia University before any action could be taken.
On-site lighting was still needed whether they spotlight or solar light capacity. It was hoped that Brescia University may be willing to cover the cost, but would have to be approached with the proposal.
5. Parish Liaisons and Training
This topic was tabled pending completion of other projects in the near term. This topic would be taken up again at a future meeting.
6. Facebook Page Report
Birgit Jones reported that the Facebook page for the Gospel of Life Committee continued to pick up fans and the readership was building slowly. It is cross referenced with the Right to Life of Owensboro Facebook page, but Gospel of Life Committee Facebook page retained a decidedly Catholic flavor. Pro-life events in the area were posted on both sites. It may be possible to bring the Facebook page to a Parish pages in the Diocese.
7. Spiritual Adoption Program
Richard reported that there were no additional parishes currently using the program. As funds become available, more cards would be needed for future operations.
8. Vaccines from Stem Cell Lines & Other Exploitation of Aborted Children
Richard reported on correspondence received in the past and recently initiated to PepsiCo regarding a collaborative relationship with Senomyx and whether the company leadership knew that Senomyx reportedly used the aborted fetal cell lines HEK (human embryonic kidney) to test artificial flavor enhancers on PepsiCo products.
The Committee had authorized Richard to write the company again to ask for clarification on their most recent correspondence to the Committee. Richard shared the correspondence sent to the company on November 9, 2011 but had not yet received any return correspondence from the company.
New Business
1. Issues Committee Members Wish to Raise
Birgit Jones recommended making the web presence on the gospel of Life Committee more prominent on the Diocesan website. One way to do this would be to have regular news and events to post on the home page with links to our webpage. Birgit agreed to talk with the Webmaster for the diocesan home page, Martha Hagan.
Birgit also suggested that her Blog may be a means of sharing info about the work of the Committee as well. She also agreed to contact Mel Howard about a monthly column in the WKC on life issues. She was encouraged by the committee to look into these possibilities.
Committee members expressed their sense of value for Parish Liaisons as a means to further the work of advocating on life issues in the Parishes. To date the connection has been weak.
It was noted that Henderson Methodist Hospital held a memorial service for those who had lost a child within the last year. The date for the event was 10-16-11 at 2:00 at their facility. Events of this type were worth sharing with the faith community.
Brenda Thompson discussed the latest developments with Opportunities for Life. The group continued to field calls 24 hours a day and 7 days per week with their volunteers. More volunteers are clearly needed. Brenda and Birgit agreed to collaborate on Facebook page development as a means to share about the group. Brenda indicated that calls were coming in after people have heard about Opportunities for Life via Billboards, phone books and friends.
2. Catholics at the Capitol, February 6-7, 2012
Richard described the aspects involved in this legislative advocacy gathering set to take place at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Frankfort, Ky this year as the General Assembly would be meeting for a 60 day session this year. The first day of activities features Mass celebrated by the attending Bishops. Several speakers will talk to the group about the issues of importance before the General Assembly that the Bishops have targeted for lobbying. This is followed by a meal and featured speaker, Fr. Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities USA. The second day is devoted to Hill visits to talk to our Legislators on the issues. The event cost $40 to participate and includes the price of the dinner the first evening; to stay at the hotel will cost $86 + tax for someone wishing to be there for both days. Committee members were urged to consider attending this gathering.
3. Mass for Life on Sunday Evening, 1-22-12 at 6:00 at Sts. Joe and Paul Parish
For those remaining in the area, the Mass of Life will occur at Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish in Owensboro at the regular Sunday evening liturgy at 6:00 PM. Since the bishop will likely be in Rome on Ad Limina visit another guest homilist would be needed. The committee recommended Fr. Richard Meredith as guest homilist or Fr. Larry Hostetter if Fr. Meredith was unavailable. There would be a requested second collection for the Committee’s work.
4. Staff Report
There will be a statewide Rally for Life in Frankfort, likely sometime in February, but this not clear as of the time of the meeting. As further info is available, this information will be made known to the Committee.
Several topics have been shared via email with the Committee and were not further discussed at this time.
The meeting closed with a prayer.
The next scheduled meetings for the committee were: 1-19-12, 3-15-12, and 5-17-12 at 6:30 PM at the CPC.
