The over 56 million abortions since the 1973 decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton by the U.S. Supreme Court reflect with heartbreaking magnitude what Pope Francis means by a “throwaway culture.” However, we have great trust in God’s providence. We are reminded time and again in Scripture to seek the Lord’s help, and as people of faith, we believe that our prayers are heard.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373, designates January 22 as a particular day of prayer and penance, called the “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”: “In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.”
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Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone will offer the Mass at noon at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption on January 22. The Mass will also be livestreamed.
This is also an opportunity to attend the Mass of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children at your local parish. Each parish is encouraged to offer a noon Mass or the regular weekday Mass for that intention, using the liturgy recommended by the U.S. bishops in designating this special day.
By offering Mass in each of our parishes on this day for this particular intention, we will pray together but in safer smaller gatherings for the restoration of the right to life for all, from conception to natural death, on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion throughout the country. Since 1973, more than 56 million lives have been taken in abortion and untold damage inflicted on those children’s mothers, fathers and families.
The Archdiocese recommends the liturgical celebration for this day be the "Mass For Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life” (no. 48/1 of the Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions), celebrated with white vestments. More information here.
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Join Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone on January 22 at 1:30 P.M. PST and several pro-life thought leaders as they grapple with the question, how does the pro-life movement move forward in 2021? Our panel will include the founder and president of the Susan B. Anthony List, Marjorie Dannenfelser, ethicist and moral theologian Dr. Charles Camosy, and Executive Director of Human Life Action Brian Duggan. The moderator will be J. A. Gray, a former editor at First Things and New Oxford Review.
Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of Susan B. Anthony List. Over the last three election cycles, SBA List and its super PAC, Women Speak Out, have reached millions of voters at their homes to promote the winning pro-life message, resulting in a pro-life White House and Senate majority in 2016. In January 2020, Dannenfelser was named national co-chair of the Pro-Life Voices for Trump coalition, a role she held during the 2016 campaign after securing four groundbreaking pro-life commitments from the nominee. Dannenfelser is the author of “Life is Winning: Inside the Fight for Unborn Children and Their Mothers.” She has been published widely including in TIME, The Washington Post, and National Review and profiled by New York Magazine, The Telegraph, and The New Yorker. An alumna of Duke University, she and her husband Marty live in Arlington, Virginia, and have five children.
Salvatore Joseph Cordileone was born in San Diego in 1956. His roots run deep in San Diego. He attended Crawford High School, San Diego State University, the University of San Diego, and St. Francis Seminary in San Diego. He was ordained a priest of San Diego July 9, 1982. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego on July 5, 2002. He earned his Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In 1995, he was called to Rome and served seven years as assistant at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest canonical court.
On March 23, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Cordileone as the fourth Bishop of Oakland. Three years later, on July 27, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him the Archbishop of San Francisco.
Charles Camosy grew up in the cornfields of Wisconsin, but he is now an Associate Professor of Theology at Fordham University in the Bronx, where he has taught since finishing his PhD in theology at Notre Dame in 2008. Among other places, his published articles have appeared in the American Journal of Bioethics, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Journal of the Catholic Health Association, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News and America magazine. He has a monthly “Purple Catholicism” column with Religion News Service and is the author of five books. Too Expensive to Treat? (Eerdmans) was a 2011 award-winner with the Catholic Media Association, Peter Singer and Christian Ethics (Cambridge) was named a 2012 “best book” with ABC Religion and Ethics, and For Love of Animals (Franciscan) was featured in the New York Times. Beyond the Abortion Wars (Eerdmans), was a 2015 award-winne alsor with the Catholic Media Association. His most recent book, Resisting Throwaway Culture (New City), was published in May of 2019 and won first place from the Catholic Publishers Association as “Resource of the Year.” His next book, out in September 2021 (New City), argues for a cultural retrieval of a theological vision of the human person given that secular medicine and bioethics has undermined fundamental human equality. In addition to advising the Faith Outreach office of the Humane Society of the United States, the pro-life commission of the Archdiocese of New York, and the American Solidarity Party, Camosy received the Robert Bryne award from the Fordham Respect Life Club and received the 2018 St. Jerome Award for scholarly excellence from the Catholic Library Association. He has four children, three of whom he and his wife Paulyn adopted from a Filipino orphanage in June of 2016.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities offers numerous resources at
https://www.respectlife.org/
The Archdiocese of San Francisco offers resources and support here and or by emailing prolife@sfarch.org
* School Mass. Information on celebrating the liturgy of thanksgiving for the gift of human life is here.
* Intentions to include in school prayer in the classroom or schoolwide on Jan. 22 can be found here.
Background information on Roe v. Wade and Church teaching on life from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities:
* A brief summary of Pope St. John Paul's Gospel of Life which explains why we believe what we believe can be found here.
* The U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade -- some background and information can be found here "Do you know Roe?". A spectrum of resources are available here.