Bi-Lingual Respect Life Program Packet for 2011-12 Now Available

WASHINGTON—The 2011-12 Respect Life Program is now available in preparation for Respect Life Sunday, October 2. All educational materials are available in both English and Spanish in a variety of formats. This year’s theme is taken from the Gospel of John I came so that all might have life and have it to the full (cf. Jn 10:10).  

The Respect Life Program flyer explores this theme by comparing a life lived for career and wealth compared to one lived in loving service to others.

Eight pamphlets in this year’s Respect Life Program comprise the new Life Matters series, designed to offer a clear and compelling defense of Church teaching from primarily secular sources. Topics covered are:

• abortion
• contraception
• the death penalty
• persons with disabilities
• embryo research
• end-of-life issues
• reproductive technologies
• love and marriage

A new website features the current Respect Life Program and provides access to archived materials from past years: www.usccb.org/respectlife. Pamphlets and two-sided bulletin inserts may be downloaded at no cost for use by the press, parishes, schools, RCIA and marriage preparation programs among other educational settings. In addition, the site contains free printable versions of the cover images, the poster, flyer, liturgy guide, program models, recommended resources, and memorable pro-life quotations and artwork, in both English and Spanish. The full-color glossy pamphlets and other printed materials are available for sale through USCCB Publishing.

This year’s liturgy guide offers Intercessions for Life, rosary intercessions for husbands and wives and a Holy Hour for Life based on Blessed Pope John Paul’s reflections on the elderly. It also contains aids for priests and deacons preaching on Respect Life Sunday and on the Roe v. Wade commemoration events in January 2012.

Begun in 1972, the Respect Life Program brings Church teaching on the value and dignity of human life to the Catholic community and the wider public. The program combines all four aspects of the bishops’ Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: education, prayer, service and advocacy. It begins anew each year on Respect Life Sunday, the first Sunday in October, which is observed in virtually all of the 195 Catholic dioceses in the United States.

NOTE: The full-color Respect Life Program pamphlets and other printed materials may be purchased in two ways: from USCCB Publishing through the new webpage, www.usccb.org/respectlife; or from the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities by calling toll-free (866) 582-0943, or by faxing orders to (301) 779-8596.

Downloadable copies of Respect Life materials from 1996 onward are posted in English and Spanish at old.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp.

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Keywords: Respect Life Sunday, Respect Life Month, Respect Life Program, Pro-Life Secretariat, Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, abortion, contraception, death penalty, capital punishment, infertility, marriage, reproductive technologies, IVF, embryo research, stem cell research, end-of-life issues, euthanasia, assisted suicide, prayer, Roe v. Wade