Sanctity of Life Course
Campaign for Life
"Inviolable" Sanctity, not Inconsistent Ethic!
"The Gospel of God's love for us, the Gospel of the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel."
So wrote Pope John Paul II in 1995's encyclical, Evangelium Nuntiandi. Two years later the Roman Catholic catechism ceased to explicitly support the death penalty in cases of "extreme gravity." The encyclical suggests a reason why the Church has begun to emphasize the universal applicability of the Gospel. "Whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God himself," the Pope wrote, expressing a deepening understanding of the consistent ethic of life that does not, and can not, make exceptions.
For eight hundred years St. Francis of Assisi's love of all creation has edified our understanding of its indivisibility. Francis's grief at abhorrent practices like abortion that eclipse the value of one life out of every four is not difficult to imagine. But it was Francis's genius to always journey to the periphery of value in order to deepen that value. He journeyed to the leper colony outside Assisi to cultivate our awareness of kinship with the afflicted. He journeyed to the sultan's seat in Damietta, Egypt, to cultivate our awareness of kinship with the Muslim. He journeyed to Gubbio to cultivate our awareness of the "wolf" inside each one of us. Francis teaches not to demonize the wolf, but to go meet with the wolf. Otherwise, we risk attacking God himself.
Following in this tradition we introduce a process aimed at cultivating a deeper awareness of the sanctity of life by journeying to meet the wolf in the death penalty.
In the process discover the hidden interconnectedness that marks the Church's emphasis on the Gospel of all Life as reflected in the recent teachings of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVII.
This process:
- orients the participant by the cardinal virtue of prudence.
- suggests consistency for a cardinal criterion.
Contact
Catholic Mobilizing Network
to End the Use of the Death Penalty
2884 Woodland Dr., NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 232-2881
www.catholicsmobilizing.org
Franciscan Action Network
Transforming the world in the spirit of St. Francis & St. Clare
P.O. Box 29053
Washington, DC 20017
202-527-7575 or 888-364-3388 (toll free)
202-527-7576 fax
www.franciscanaction.org