Home  |  News  |  Events  |  Contact
Meet the people involved in our faith community.
Learn what it means to be a Catholic.
Our parishes, schools, ministries, and centers.

Pro-Life

About the Office of Pro-Life

larger font

Life Issues are the central social justice issues of our times. Pope Paul VI said, "If you want peace, work for Justice"; Pope John Paul II said, "If you want justice, defend life." 

God the Lord of Life has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life and men must carry it out in a worthy manner. Catechism 2271 

Teens for Life featured in BAA Video

 

Find out the latest Pro-Life news in the Raleigh Diocese by reading our newsletter, The Pro-Life Times, available on our Publications page.

Interested in receiving weekly updates from the Pro-Life Office? Please email marybeth.phillips@raldioc.org to be added to the distribution list.

The Pro-Life Office is now on Facebook. Please like us at https://www.facebook.com/ProLifeRaleigh. 

Culture of Life

Download our brochure (PDF) to learn how you can help contribute to a culture of life in the Diocese of Raleigh.



News and Announcements

Press Conference on the Racial Justice Act

Jackie Bonk of the Office of Pro-Life represented the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh at a press conference on Wednesday, April 10, organized by People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, in opposition to Senate Bill 306, which could overturn the Racial Justice Act and potentially lead to more executions. Read the full statement (PDF).

Bishop Supports Immigration Reform in the News & Observer

Bishop Burbidge joined with Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry to make a statement regarding Immigration Reform in the News & Observer. Read the full article. 

Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty

The U.S. bishops have approved a pastoral strategy to advance a Movement for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty. It is essentially a call to prayer, penance, and sacrifice for the sake of renewing a culture of life, marriage, and religious liberty in our country. Please click here for a plan to implement this USCCB strategy in your parish (PDF). Download flyer (PDF)

Bishop Burbidge Discusses Essential Elements of Immigration Reform 

At the request of the North Carolina Council of Churches, the Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge was asked to present Catholic Church teaching on the subject of immigration and the need for comprehensive immigration reform. His talk also detailed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ proposals for reform, which include support for Earned Legalization, Future Worker Program, Family-Based Immigration Reform, Restoration of Due Process Rights, Enforcement and Global Anti-Poverty Efforts.

Read Bishop Burbidge’s talk to the N.C. Council of Churches (PDF)

Upcoming Events

Project Rachel

Abortion is one of the most common procedures in the US, experienced by millions of women, many of whom are Catholic. Abortion creates a wound in post-abortive women (and men), resulting in spiritual and emotional problems. The Project Rachel ministry assists women and men who have been wounded by abortion to find truth and healing. Visit our Project Rachel page for more information.

Mission Statement

The Office of Pro-Life is committed to proclaiming, celebrating and witnessing the sacred gift of human life. We are entrusted to the evangelical mission of education, formation and the invitation of the faithful to actively participate in the protection and the sanctity of all human life, from conception until natural death in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The scope of pro-life education and advocacy includes: abortion and post abortion healing, embryonic stem cell research, immigration, homelessness, hunger and poverty, euthanasia and the death penalty. We joyfully embrace the ethic of life as a continuum where the dignity of each human life is always honored irrespective of age, or condition.  

Vision Statement

The Office of Pro-Life proclaims and affirms the life and dignity of every human person through prayer, education, outreach, and public policy in order to defend and inspire a culture of life. 

Pro-Life Activities

The U.S. Bishops' 2001 Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities calls upon the Church - its people, services, and institutions - to pursue the cause of human life & dignity in four major areas. The Office of Pro-Life in the Diocese of Raleigh recommends that parishes try to be involved in each of these four areas of the Pastoral Plan:

  1. Education to deepen understanding of the sanctity of human life and the humanity of unborn children, the moral evil of intentionally killing innocent human beings — whether at the beginning of life or at its end — and the mission of the Church to witness to and serve all human life.
  2. Pastoral Care for women with problems related to pregnancy; for all who have been involved in abortion; for those who are disabled, sick, and dying, and their families and caregivers; for those who have lost loved ones to violent crime; and for those in prison sentenced to death.
  3. Public Policy efforts directed to restoring legal protection to the lives of unborn children, those suffering from injustices due to societal systems, those living in poverty, and those vulnerable to pressures to end their lives by assisted suicide, and to providing morally acceptable alternatives to abortion and assisted suicide.
  4. Prayer and Worship directed to participation in the sacramental life of the Church and in programs of communal and individual prayer, to pray for the culture of life.

Contact

Office of Pro-Life
Jackie Bonk, Director
7200 Stonehenge Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27613
Phone: 919-645-4438
Email: jackie.bonk@raldioc.org

Mary Beth Phillips, Associate Director
7200 Stonehenge Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27613
Phone: 919-719-8267
Email: marybeth.phillips@raldioc.org