Respect Life Month was begun in 1972 by the American Catholic bishops. It is observed in Catholic dioceses throughout the United States during October.
During October we are challenged to renew our dedication to respecting the inherent, God-given dignity of all human life. It is dedicated to increasing respect for life through public information and education, pastoral care, public policy, and prayer.
Loving, respecting others
In Genesis 1:27 it says, “God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.”
Since God is love, we image God best when we love. Believing that we humans image God helps us to treat others with respect as Pope Francis urges. To respect others, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to see with Jesus’ eyes and to respond with his love.
Pope Francis stated that every human being is God’s masterpiece. I join many others in stating that Pope Francis is also God’s masterpiece who repeatedly reveals respect for life as St. Francis did.
St. Francis once said, “I preach and sometimes I use words.” Pope Francis often uses words beautifully. He once stated, “All life has inestimable value, even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn, and the poor, are created in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”
Caring for the sick and elderly
Pope Francis showed his respect for others when he met members of the Italian Catholic Association of Healthcare Workers on their 40th anniversary. At the core of the pope’s discourse to these health care members was the defense, respect, and promotion of life.
Pope Francis thanked members for their “irreplaceable service” to people who are most vulnerable or in need of assistance because they are sick, elderly, and marginalized. He told the healthcare workers that they should treat the sick as people, not as numbers.
During September, 2016 in Italy, Pope Francis visited the Villa Speranza Hospice, where 30 patients in the terminal stages of illness are housed. He greeted each patient, as well as their families, in emotional encounters.
In September of 2016, Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the San Giovanni hospital, stopping at both the emergency room and the neonatal unit. There were 12 babies with various conditions in the unit. Five of them — including one set of twins — were in very serious condition in the ICU.
He spoke to the babies in each incubator, and greeted their parents, offering words of comfort. Pope Francis invited those present to look to the humanity of Christ who taught that each individual “is not a number, but a person, unique and unrepeatable.”
Respect for all life
Pope Francis reflects the broad respect for life, that the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin emphasized in his seamless garment speech on December 6, 1983.
In this speech, he called for a broad vision that would make evident the principles of reverence for the sacredness of all life. It would include strong opposition to a wide spectrum of evils, from abortion, to nuclear holocaust, to capital punishment, to human trafficking, domestic abuse, slavery, terrorism, persecution of Christians and other groups.
In 2002, the U.S. bishops in their statement, “Living the Gospel of Life,” taught that opposing abortion and euthanasia does not excuse indifference to those who suffer from poverty, violence, and injustice. Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing, and health care.
Let us pray and work for the day when there will be an increased respect for life all stages, when babies will be safe in their mothers’ wombs, when all old men and women will be cherished as God’s most precious gift, and when every human life from the first moment of conception to the last natural breath will be protected, nourished, and respected.
Let us do our part by respecting life where we live, work, recreate, or whereever we are in whatever way we can.
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.