People of Life Award 2013 Recipients: Presented the 4th day of August 2013 at the National Meeting of Diocesan Pro-Life Directors

 
pro-life-awards-2013
From Left to Right: Fran Hogan, Esq., Sr. Jane Marie Klein, OSF, Cardinal SeanO'Malley, OFM, and Barbara Thorp, LICSW
For more see our Press Release

The Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recognizes the outstanding leadership of:

Frances X. Hogan, Esq.

Member, Pontifical Academy for Life
Co-founder, Women Affirming Life

Ms. Hogan serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference and she currently chairs its Pro-Life/Pro-Family Sub-Committee. She served on the Steering Committee of the MCC in connection with the successful effort to defeat the 2012 ballot question on physician-assisted suicide.

She has served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Eighth Synod of the Archdiocese of Boston as Chair of its Pro-Life Committee. She also served on the boards of the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, the Value of Life Committee, and Massachusetts Citizens for Life where she also served as President. She was the President and Co-founder of Women Affirming Life, a national group of Catholic women who witness to the value of all human life through their professions, their family life, and community services. For many years she served as a Consultant to the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities. She is also a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Ms. Hogan is a partner at the law firm of Lyne, Woodworth & Evarts and a graduate of Mount St. Joseph Academy, Regis College, and Boston College Law School.

 

Sr. Jane Marie Klein, OSF

Advocate for Authentic Catholic Health Care & Conscience Rights
Chair of the Board, Franciscan Alliance

"We are a people of life because God, in his unconditional love, has given us the Gospel of Life...and we are called to act accordingly."

Pope John Paul II

Sister Jane Marie Klein is a native of Jasper, Indiana, and after high school answered God's call to serve the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. She assumed her current position as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Franciscan Alliance, a 13-hospital Catholic healthcare system, in 1996 after serving as the Corporation's President and CEO. Prior to that she held senior administrative positions in several of the System's hospitals, and also worked in medical social work and accounting in her early healthcare ministry. Sister serves on a number of hospital boards, the Tonn and Blank Construction Company Board, and the Hills Insurance Board. She is a member of the South Bend/Fort Wayne Diocesan Finance Council and has been a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration Provincial Council for over 20 years.


In March, 2013, Klein presented at a Congressional press conference at the introduction of the Health Care Conscience Rights Act (H.R. 940, S. 1204), and is featured in the USCCB video, "Speak Up for Conscience Rights."

 

Barbara Thorp, LICSW

Former Director, Pro-Life Office and Project Rachel Archdiocese of Boston

In 2012, Barbara Thorp completed over 35 years of service to the Archdiocese of Boston. During this time she has served as the Director of the Office of Pastoral Support Outreach and Child Protection, Director of the Pro-Life Office, and as a Catholic Charities Social Worker. During her service to the Archdiocese Barbara developed the post-abortion ministry Project Rachel. She managed the Cardinal's Fund for the Unborn to provide monetary aid to pregnant women in crisis and supervised the crisis pregnancy program, Pregnancy Help, and collaborated to develop end-of-life resource manuals for parishes. Barbara was also a founding member of Women Affirming Life. Her writings from a pro-life/pro-choice dialogue have been published in The Boston Globe.

In April and May of 2013 following the Boston Marathon Bombings, Barbara led special crisis and support counseling for students and staff at The Newman School in Boston.

She earned her BA from Simmons College and graduated with a MSW from Rutgers University.