Office for Social

Office for Social Ministry e-link The Diocese of San Diego
February 3, 2005 #32 858-490-8323

Dear e-link member,

E-link membership is hovering around 792, just under the 800 mark. We welcome new members and hope that all who feel called to serve human life and justice will learn about this essential tool.

As always, we remind current members and inform new members that past e-link bulletins and this current bulletin can be viewed at www.osmelink.org.

The photo above, taken on January 22, 2005, at the West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco (there were over 8,000 in attendance) demonstrates our commitment to women in three ways: 1) before birth, in the promise of pregnancy care centers, 2)after birth, in our never-ending struggle to work for just wages and supportive measures for poor families, and 3) even after the "choice" of abortion, we stand ready to help with outstretched hands of healing, knowing that the decision to end the life of one's own child leaves devastating emotional, physical and spiritual scars.

Let's keep all young women and men who face challenging pregnancies in our daily prayers. Let's keep all young families who struggle to survive in our communities in our daily prayers. Let's keep all our efforts to serve the vulnerable in our daily prayers. Thanks to you all.

God Bless!

Thursday, February 3, 2004 OSM e-link Bulletin #32

Table of Contents

Remarks from Jim DeHarpporte, Catholic Relief Services West Coast Regional Director, on his return from Jakarta, Indonesia

Key upcoming Culture-of-Life Gatherings/Projects (please join us)

- Catholic Lobby Day set for Tuesday, April 26, 2005, "Onward to Sacramento!"

- 5th Annual Men's Leadership Forum is set for Monday, February 14, 2005

Short Reports on Office for Social Ministry Related Issues/Events

     - Safe Place Faith Communities trains 37 lay leaders for domestic abuse outreach
       in five churches in San Diego County - St. Peter, Fallbrook, Christ the King, San
       Diego, St. Matthews Episcopal, National City, Chula Vista Community Church,
       and St. Pius X in San Diego

     - California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty vigil was held for
        Donald Beardslee on January 18, 2005, in front of the San Diego Hall of Justice

     - Liz Sumner, national hospice leader, spoke to Culture-of-Life Coordinators from
       both San Diego and Imperial Counties about end of life issues and the need to
       fight proposed physician assisted suicide legislation in California

Advocacy Request

- Please call your California Assembly Member and ask that he or she oppose
proposed legislation that will legalize physician-assisted suicide in California

Advocacy Reportback

- Kent reports on making a donation through the CRS web site

Web and e-mail-based Resources

- Embracing Our Dying, a web resource of the California Catholic Bishops for
families facing end-of-life decisions - locate hospices, parishes, and more

Local and Regional Events/Gatherings/Projects

     - Holy Hour for Life Intentions scheduled monthly at St. Louise de Marillac Church
       In Crest

     - Fr. Richard Huston to speak at Holy Rosary Catholic Church on the topic of
       ministry with Catholics with same-sex attraction on Feb. 4th, 7:30 p.m.

     - Culture of Life Family Services Annual Dinner and Auction is set for Saturday,
       February 12, 5:00 p.m. at the Church of the Resurrection in Escondido

Article/Statement for February 3, 2005

- A Time of Hope and Worry, Turning 32, Roe v. Wade is More and More Out
of Date, by Cy Kellett, Editor of the Southern Cross

Remarks from Jim DeHarporte

Prayer, motivated by love, is seen as paramount in these many days of turmoil and rebuilding

Waiting to Return Home...

The departure room at the Indonesia’s Banda Aceh airport was crowded, smoky and heavy with humidity as I awaited my departure for the capital city, Jakarta. From the hats and t-shirts, it was easy to see that most of the passengers, like myself, were aid workers or volunteers from international humanitarian agencies and local Indonesian organizations. Some were still wearing facemasks, and I wondered if they had forgotten to remove them after visiting the devastated coast of Banda Aceh, where the smell of rotting flesh had yet to leave the air, our skin, our minds.

It had been three weeks since an earthquake on the Indian Ocean floor sent a tsunami roaring onto the Indonesian coast like a dark cloud on a clear Sunday morning. In the northern province of Sumatra, the estimated death toll numbered more than 100,000, and people continued to find bodies in collapsed houses and buildings. The roads, once arteries for the living and bustling communities, were now lined with mass burial sites and plastic bags filled with corpses.

It is hard to find words to describe the devastation. It looks as if a giant scraper came along and cleared everything in its path – family, community, history. The bridge leading out of town was now twisted metal. I was told that 90 percent of the road that winds along this coast for more than 100 miles was destroyed; it will take years to reconstruct. The few lone buildings more than two miles inland stand like pioneer outposts in an apocalyptic wilderness.

A few days before, I had come across a couple trying to salvage their vehicle from a swamp with the help of an elephant. They had lost their daughter and had, themselves, been swept away in the waves. Sima, the mother, was pulled under several times but somehow reemerged each time long enough to take a breath. She had clung to a log for her life. By the time I met them, they had given up hope of finding their daughter, even though 100 bodies remained unidentified in the swamp. They could not go in to look, as the mud was waist-deep.

When I later visited the only Catholic Church in town, the priest, Fr. Ferdinand Severi, told me that 350 Catholics had been living here, many of whom were of Chinese origin and ran small businesses. Last Sunday, only six of them were at Mass. The small Catholic high school nearby was a U-shaped building that, like a basket, had collected those swept into its bosom.

Much of the city was abandoned. The shops and offices that had withstood the disaster were now closed or boarded up where the waters had ripped off the doors. Their owners were among those lying in mass graves, lost to the sea, or in flight far from the city in fear of another tsunami. We could feel aftershocks almost every night as if an evil giant, still in slumber, was about to wake at any moment.

But the earthquake and tsunami had not gutted the entire town. A few residential sections far enough from the ocean had survived. In these areas life was returning. Catholic Relief Services had established a base of relief operations and, similar to its efforts in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, would provide food, family kits, clean water and sanitation, shelter, trauma counseling, and the means for the restoration of livelihoods. This recovery will take years.

One of the striking effects of this disaster is the powerful wave of compassion and love from people in the United States and all over the world. I was particularly moved in Southern India when a priest came from a poor parish to deliver a bag of small bills totaling Rps. 90,000 (about $2,000), donated by his parishioners.

But people here, and many of us throughout the world, will never be the same. It’s hard to understand why so many had to die. The count for all the countries hit is now over 200, 000, making this an event with few parallels in human history. I wonder if the death toll would have been as high if people were not living in such vulnerable conditions. I try to imagine our world if a similar level of resources that we have seen with this emergency, could be applied toward development aid and policies that would foster stronger communities.

Gathering my thoughts and bags in preparation to return home, my mind went back to Arul Mani whom I met on the beach early one morning. He lost his wife and two of his four children, and was beyond consolation. He said the only thing he wanted from us was our prayers. “Only prayers,” he repeated. I told him, and the others I met on this trip, that people throughout the world are praying for them. I pray also that we sustain the bond of compassion and engagement the world has shown these past three weeks. I pray for an end to poverty and injustice, and that every citizen on earth comes to enjoy the dignity and respect that each one deserves as their birthright, as sons and daughters of God.

Jim DeHarpporte
West Coast Regional Director, Catholic Relief Services
Jakarta, January 15, 2005

Thank you and God bless!

Key Upcoming Culture-of-Life Gatherings/Projects

Number 1: Catholic Lobby Day in Sacramento - Join the OSM staff (Linda, Jim, Jo and Kent) and 45 other parishioners at the 7th annual Catholic Lobby Day at the Capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday, April 26, 2005.

We will join with more than 1,200 other Catholics from across the State in Sacramento to pray (entire group attends Mass), sing, march, have lunch, and then visit our State Assembly Members and State Senators. It's been called "quite a day," making past participants very proud to be Catholic and willing to make their voices heard by those in power.

It's a long day but a very rewarding one. Please check out the schedule below.

Schedule for Catholic Lobby Day
Tuesday, April 26, 2005

6:30 a.m.     Depart from the San Diego Airport - SW #2300
8:00 a.m.     Arrive at the Sacramento Airport
8:15 a.m.     Bus from Airport Leaves for the Capitol
8:40 a.m.     Arrive at the Capitol, Register at the Crest Theater
9:30 a.m.     Welcome and Eucharistic Liturgy
10:45 a.m.   March to the Capitol
11:15 a.m.   Rally at the Capitol (North Entrance)
11:45 a.m.   Lunch on the Capitol Lawn
1:00 p.m.     Lobby Visits to Member Assembly and Senate Offices (small groups by
                   districts)
3:45 p.m.     Bus Leaves for the Airport (Debriefing Meeting on the Bus), Dinner at Airport
5:45 p.m.     Depart from Sacramento Airport - SW #1975
7:10 p.m.     Arrive back in San Diego

How do those from the Diocese of San Diego register for Catholic Lobby day? There are four simple steps:

1. Go to the Southwest Airlines web site below and reserve your flight. The cost should be about 104 dollars for the round trip air fare. The bus to and from the airport and lunch will be provided free of charge by the OSM.

We will be departing Tuesday, April 26th on Southwest Flight #2300 at 6:30 a.m. and returning on Southwest Flight #1975 at 5:45 p.m., arriving back in San Diego at 7:10 p.m. the same day.

http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/buildItinerary2?hps=nb

2. Call the Office for Social Ministry at 858-490-8323 or email us at reportback@diocese-sdiego.org to let us know that you have made your reservation and provide us with your address and e-mail address.

3. Attend one planning meeting at the Pastoral Center where we will decide upon the issues to be taken to Sacramento and learn more about individual legislators and legislative visits. The planning meetings are scheduled for April 14th. You can choose between the 1:00 p.m. and the 7:00 p.m. meeting.

4. Meet at the San Diego Airport about 5:30 a.m. on April 26, 2005 at the Southwest gate area for flight SW 2300.

That's it!

Catholic Lobby Day will be a gathering of people of faith raising their voices in "sincere dialogue... and with anxious interest... seeking the common good." [Vatican II]

For the seventh consecutive year, the California Catholic Conference (CCC) is hosting Catholics from all over California who are interested in exercising their "faithful citizenship" in their state's Capitol. The OSM and the CCC welcomes all who are interested in meeting with elected officials to speak on behalf of those who are poor, vulnerable or voiceless.

Seventh Annual Catholic Lobby Day
Tuesday, April 26, 2005, 6:30 a.m. to 7:10 p.m.
San Diego to Sacramento and back SW #2300 and SW #1975
Depart from the San Diego Airport

For information or questions about Catholic Lobby Day, contact Kent Peters at 858-490-8323.

Number 2: Second Notice... The 5th Annual Men's Leadership Forum will be held on Valentine's Day, Monday, February 14, 2005, at Paradise Point Convention Center, 1404 Vacation Road in San Diego. The day will start at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.

Featuring former NFL Quarterback Don McPherson as keynote speaker

We'll have a great Lunch and breakouts with MCLE, CEU, and CME credits!

The Men’s Leadership Forum involves men in acknowledging and preventing domestic and sexual violence.

Men and boys must become actively involved in this important public health issue for substantive change and healing to occur. Join with men, young and old, recognized as community leaders, to positively impact the San Diego community for the good of everyone. This event will focus on the role men can play in overcoming relationship violence, but women are also welcome to attend.

Workshops will include:

- Ken Druck, Ph.D. “Breaking The Cycle of Loss and Violence”
- Dr. Vincent Felitti “Adverse Childhood Experiences and the
Cycle of Violence”
- Lic. Ricardo Ruiz Carbonel “Dignidad Quebrantada: Raíces de la
Violencia” Taller en español / Spanish breakout session
- Cindy Grossman "Domestic Violence Effects on Children"
- Craig McClain and Joe Sigerton "Boys to Men"
- Steve Allen, Esq. "Justice and the Limits of the Long-Arm of the Law"
- Kent Peters "Safe Place Faith Communities" an initiative report with panel
- David Wexler "Good Men Behaving Badly"
- Two or three additional workshops will be scheduled (youth, workplace, etc.)

5th Annual Men's Leadership Forum
Monday, February 14, 2005
Paradise Point Convention Center
1404 Vacation Road in San Diego
Cost - $20 per person

For more information, to register, and to learn more about scholarship opportunities call/contact:

Steve Allen, Esq, (858) 272-5328 sallen@ccssd.org,

Kent Peters, (858) 490-8323 kpeters@diocese-sdiego.org, or

the San Diego Domestic Violence Council at (619) 533-6041

Short Reports on OSM Related Issues/Events

Number 1: Over the past eleven months, the Office for Social Ministry has been helping to organize a pilot project that will involve five congregations in San Diego County in an outreach within their own congregations and local communities in the area of domestic abuse or relationship violence. It's called Safe Place Faith Communities.

To the left is the poster that will be used (all materials have also been produced in Spanish) to inform the congregation that supportive services are now in place for those experiencing relationship violence or who have questions about relationship violence.

The white space, 2" by 4", at the lower end of the poster will contain information about the team members who have been trained and are ready to serve within that congregation.

The actual poster is 16" by 22".

On Saturday, January 29th, 36 volunteers (see photo below) from five congregations in San Diego County were trained for the SPFC ministry. These congregations are: Christ the King of San Diego, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church of National City, St. Pius X of San Diego, St. Peter of Fallbrook, and Chula Vista Community Congregational Church. These volunteers will provide a safe environment within their respective congregations for those seeking information or assistance. The volunteers plan to work closely with local relationship-violence service providers and use these agencies as they attempt meet the needs of those they serve. Volunteers will provide companionship and spiritual support for members who are utilizing those community resources.

Below is the cover of an eight-page booklet designed to inform the general membership of the congregation's decision to undertake relationship violence outreach ministry and to provide them with basic information on the issue.

Relationship or domestic violence cuts across racial, religious, geographic, and socio-economic lines. Any faith community can have members who are deeply affected by relationship violence. Safe Place Faith Communities congregations seek to make San Diego County safer for individuals and families by directing their resources towards those in need of protection and healing as the result of relationship violence.

Placement cards for restrooms, offices, reception areas, and other public and private places in the congregation's physical plant are also available. These cards (see right) identify abusive behaviors, indicate the congregations intent to help, and give information on team members for that congregation. Unfolded, the card is 4" by 6".

Only in its pilot stage, SPFC will asses its effectiveness 12 to 18 months after the mid-February 2005 kickoff. If congregation members are using the outreach teams, and successful transitions to safety and healing can be documented, the program will be opened up to other congregations in the community, including all Catholic parishes.

From time to time, in e-link, we will give updates on the progress of the SPFC outreach ministry. If you have any questions about this pilot project, contact Kent Peters or Linda Arreola of the OSM at 858-490-8323.

Please keep this effort in your prayers.

Safe Place Faith Communities
San Diego Congregations Serving Families
Experiencing Relationship violence

Number 2: Donal Beardslee executed at 12:26 a.m. on Wednesday, January 19 at San Quentin State Prison. A vigil for Donald, his victims and their families was held in San Diego on the evening of January 18.

Condemned murderer Donald Beardslee, who killed two young Peninsula women in 1981 while on parole from an earlier murder conviction, was executed by lethal injection early today at San Quentin State Prison.

Beardslee, 61, showed little emotion as he was led into the death chamber and bound to a gurney with four-inch black webbing.

It took nearly 28 minutes to complete the execution, which began at 12:01 a.m. The medics who administered the lethal injection had some difficulty finding veins suitable for inserting the intravenous tubes through which the drugs were to be pumped, and the actual injection did not begin until 12:18 a.m.

At 12:20 a.m., Beardslee opened and fluttered his eyes momentarily. Two minutes later his chest heaved twice. At 12:26 a.m., Beardslee's head tilted slightly to the left. It was his last movement.

At 12:29 a.m., a slip of paper was handed through the porthole in the witness room that said Beardslee was dead.

Beardslee spent the last hours before his execution talking with his spiritual advisor and members of his legal team. He skipped the traditional last meal and only drank grapefruit juice before his death.

Thirty people witnessed Beardslee's death.

At the Hall of Justice in Downtown San Diego on the evening before Beardslee's execution, (see photo at left) about 15 members of California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty and Death Penalty Focus held a two-hour vigil for Mr. Beardslee, his victims and their families.

One participant was quoted as saying, "It makes no sense to kill someone more that 22 years after a crime. Obviously, we've been safe all those years. His death does not make us any safer."

Anyone interested in joining the local Chapter of California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty should contact the Office for Social Ministry at 858-490-8323.

Material for this report was taken from the San Francisco Chronicle's web site http://www.sfgate.com written by Bob Egelko, Peter Fimrite and Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writers.

Number 3: Liz Sumner, nationally know pioneer and 25-year specialist in hospice care, shared her message of respect for the dying with parish culture of life coordinators in both San Diego and El Centro in early January. Shown below are Liz, center kneeling, coordinators from the Imperial Deanery, and Fr. Ed Horning from Our Lady of Guadalupe in El Cento (far left) and Fr. Gianantonio Baggio, CS of St. Anthony of Padua in Imperial (far right).

At their quarterly meetings in San Diego and Imperial Counties, culture of life coordinators prepared themselves to do battle, once again, with the forces of the Culture of Death. Proposed physician-assisted suicide legislation is making its way to the California Assembly, and the coordinators hope to have this legislation tabled before it reaches the Assembly floor.

In February and early March at many parishes in the diocese, the coordinators will be gathering signatures on petitions that will be delivered to Assembly members in their local offices by delegations in mid to late March.

Liz's message highlighted the grace and peace that results when we embrace those among us who are dying with love, tenderness and acceptance. She shared stories from her many years of experience in hospice.

This effort has been mounted to counter the growing sentiment that those who are willing to kill their family members are more compassionate than those who are willing to care for them until natural death. Many Catholics even report that they are in favor of euthanasia for those with terminal illnesses.

If you would like to circulate an anti-physician-assisted-suicide petition for delivery to your Assembly member, call the OSM at 858-490-8323.

e-link Advocacy REQUEST

Those in the California Legislature who embrace physician-assisted suicide are at it again.

North coast Assemblywoman Patty Berg (D) is co-sponsoring a bill that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in California.

The proposal is patterned after Oregon's "Death with Dignity" law, which has enabled about 170 residents to take their own lives since it took effect in 1998. This bill (a legislative number will be assigned to this proposed bill sometime in early February) by Berg and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, (D) Van Nuys, would require two physicians to agree the patient has less than six months to live. The patient would have to be mentally competent, make three requests and wait 15 days before a prescription is written.

The patient would then have to self-administer the lethal prescription.

The California Catholic Conference, in conjunction with the dioceses of California hope to scuttle this bill well before it hits the Assembly floor.

What can you do to stop this law?

Call your California Assembly Member and request that he or she oppose this dangerous piece of legislation.

The simple message to our Assembly member:

"Please do all you can to stop the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in California. We can do better than to kill our family members in the name of compassion."

How to find your Assembly member:

Go to http://www.vote-smart.org/ (or click on the logo below) and place you nine digit zip code in the designated box on the left side of the screen.

From the list of your elected officials, click on your California Assembly member's name, and his or her data, including phone numbers, should appear.

Then just make the call. Thank you!

And then, as always, please report back via e-mail reportback@diocese-sdiego.org on how the call to your Assembly Member went.

e-link Advocacy REPORTBACK

It was reassuring to make a donation to those suffering the effects of the tsunami disaster through Catholic Relief Services (CRS). CRS is respected throughout the world as a model for efficiency and caring. I know my small donation will reach those who are suffering.

If you have not read Jim DeHarpporte's reflection on the devastation caused by this natural disaster, please see the Remarks section at the beginning of e-link.

Thank you, Jim, for all you do, and may CRS continue to serve the world with the mantle of humility and godliness.

In the Peace of Christ,

Kent Peters

Web and e-mail-based Resources

The California Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the California Catholic Bishops, has established a Web site for families dealing with end-of-life issues. You'll want to take a look at this important site and share it with family and friends who may be facing this difficult time. http://www.embracingourdying.com/.

Embracing Our Dying is the Catholic response to the political and social efforts to promote the acceptance and eventual legalization of "assisted suicide" in California.

The dying are among the most vulnerable of our human community. We Catholics believe that we are called to embrace them as they approach the end of life. We believe that a dying person's request for "assisted suicide" is actually a cry for help coming from a fear of helplessness and a fear of abandonment. We also know that if the dying are embraced by their family and their community, they will not seek death, but will live their last days well, and then accept death when it comes.

Our site provides useful information for those who are willing to embrace the dying—individuals and/or parish communities. Included on the site is an overview of Catholic moral theology on death and dying, current medical and hospital practices, the state of the law regarding end-of-life issues, comments on the current political situation, and information on parish nurses, parish health ministry, hospice care and other parish-based services.

This web site will be a powerful tool in the struggle to protect human life... please visit and use this resource!

New Local/Regional Events and Gatherings

If you are planning an event that falls within the mission of social ministry, send the particulars four to five weeks in advance to the Office for Social Ministry via e-mail, osmelink@diocese-sdiego.org. The OSM reserves the right to publish or not to publish any proposed event information. We hope this will assist your local efforts to rebuild a culture of life.

1. Holy Hour for Life Intentions scheduled monthly at St. Louise de Marillac Church In Crest

Please join your fellow pro-lifers for a holy hour and benediction every third Thursday of the month (next is on Feb. 17) at St. Louise de Marillac Church in Crest at 7:00 pm. Our work with life issues needs to be sustained by prayer. What more beautiful and strengthening way to be supporting each other than in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Call Molly Treadwell for more details at (619) 447-9770.

2. Father Richard Huston, spiritual advisor to Courage and Encourage, supportive environments for Catholics with same-sex attraction, to speak at the Culture of Life Praise and Worship gathering tomorrow night, February 4.

Fr. Huston's presentation is entitled, "Courage: the Truth About Homosexuality." Join the Culture of Life community at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church, 1654 State St., Little Italy, San Diego, on Friday, February 4th at 7:30 p.m. for prayer, song, and to meet some cool people.

3. Culture of Life Family Services Annual Dinner and Auction, Saturday, February 12, at 5 p.m. Church of the Resurrection Hall, 1445 Conway Drive, Escondido.

Father Ken Del Priore will be cooking his Italian dinner. There will be a raffle, an auction, and loads of fun. Call Dave Baker for tickets ($15 each) at 760-743-8218.

Watch for OSM e-link bulletin #33 around Friday, March 4, 2005

Article/Statement for February 3, 2005

A Time of Hope and Worry - Turning 32, Roe v. Wade is more and more out of date

By Cyril Jones-Kellett

SAN DIEGO - Thirty-two years after the U.S. Supreme Court "settled" the issue of abortion, the issue is as unsettled and unsettling as ever, and on the horizon are the ever more complex problems posed by emerging biotechnologies.

A culture that has not made a clear choice between life and death, in other words, faces issues of life and death that are more morally confusing with each passing week.

But, despite the dangers, the moment is a peculiarly hopeful one.

The consensus that Roe vs. Wade was a poorly decided case is growing, even among those who support the abortion license. The United States House and Senate both boast larger percentages of legislators calling themselves "pro-life" than at any time since the Roe decision. The president talks openly about fostering a "culture of life" and when asked to name the kinds of justices he is likely to appoint to the Supreme Court, he lists judges who have opposed the Roe decision.

Culturally, the debate over partial-birth abortion continues to rage and has placed powerful images of abortion's savagery in the public mind. There is more and more emphasis on how abortion hurts women and benefits predatory men. There is greater unwillingness, especially in the age of ultrasounds, to dismiss prenatal humans as less than living. And, increasingly, young people identify themselves as opposed to abortion.

Though many courts continue to stifle the efforts, legislative and ballot initiatives that seek to limit the scope of abortion's harm continue to receive broad support around the nation.

For the first time since that January day in 1972 when abortion was put beyond the reach of the people to legislate about, there is realistic hope that meaningful limits will be placed on the killing of the unborn.

In a statement marking the Jan. 22 anniversary of Roe, Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of planning and information for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Pro-Life Secretariat, wrote that "Roe v. Wade has been a social experiment on the lives of women and children. But the culture is turning away from abortion. More and more people believe that all children deserve a chance to be born, and that women deserve better than abortion."

These themes were echoed in protests and vigils around the nation.

In San Diego, the day was marked by a Respect Life Mass, celebrated at the Immaculata.

Father Mathew Spahr, who offered the homily at the Mass, said that "the struggle to end abortion is not primarily a legal issue, political issue, or even a religious issue. It is an issue of humanity."

He asked those gathered to "look again" at the unborn, to see the preciousness of their humanity, just as we must look again to see the divinity of the infant Christ.

"The Incarnation gives us the vision to see the sacredness of humanity," he told those who had gathered.

Thousands attended a similar Mass for Life at the National Cathedral in Washington.

"We gather to protest yet again the tragic miscarriage of justice that was the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade" and to "recommit ourselves to the dismantling of Roe," said principal celebrant and homilist Cardinal William Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Pro-Life Activities. Cardinal Keeler called on the thousands gathered to write letters, organize rallies, volunteer time and materials to pro-life pregnancy centers, and support the campaigns of pro-life political candidates.

The Vigil Mass for Life is one of the largest annual Catholic Masses in the United States, annually drawing approximately 8,000 participants, hundreds of priests and seminarians, and dozens of bishops who stand in solidarity with the over 40 million unborn children killed and the countless women and men who have suffered since Roe v. Wade.

Remarkably, the snowstorms in the East and Midwest did not greatly diminish attendance this year, as hundreds of priests and seminarians and over 20 bishops and cardinals concelebrated at the Mass.

The cardinal stressed that there are many reasons for hope. "Increasingly," he said, Americans are aware of "the vast network of lies" that support abortion.

"Thirty-two years ago, seven members of the Supreme Court took the issue of abortion out of the hands of the American people and their duly elected lawmakers," he said. "They invented a constitutional concept that had never been envisioned; in doing so, they contravened two of our nation's most precious values: the recognition of a God-given, inalienable right to life, and the promise of equal protection under the law."

"All this," he said, "increasing numbers of Americans are coming to understand."