Seminarians Step Up to Defend Life
By Molly Mulqueen
[printed in COLUMBIA, January, 2002]
Learning for Life
Two groups are helping tomorrow's priests become the Church's
next pro-life leaders.
The next generation of priests committed to the pro-life
cause may be the best trained yet to help Catholics confront
the Culture of Death. Two pro-life organizations recently
were formed by seminarians for seminarians. Both groups aim
to round out pastoral and classroom training with practical
training in pro-life issues.
Seminarians for Life and Seminarian Life Link offer information
and support ranging from tips on pro-life homilies to organizing
effective activities for parish pro-life groups. Using the
Internet, these groups also put seminarians from across the
United States in touch with one another, broadening the base
of pro-life leadership.
"We ask them to use the formation process of each seminary
to form their priestly identity on the fundamental truth that
all life is created by God in his image and likeness. We encourage
them to use their class assignments to do research projects
that would strengthen this truth of the Imago Dei [image of
God]," explained Eric Bowman, national director of Seminarian
Life Link and a student at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the
West in Cincinnati. Bowman is a member of Beavercreek (Ohio)
Council 7981 at St. Luke's Parish, where he is currently a
pastoral associate.
"We do encourage the men to be involved with local crisis
pregnancy centers to offer them support," Bowman said. "We
encourage our brothers to be visibly present at abortion facilities
to pray for all of the women and their babies, and especially
to pray for the workers and supporters of the abortion industry"
He added, "We really encourage the men to begin to develop
strategies to discuss life issues from the pulpit and to have
the confidence to boldly proclaim that the Gospel of Christ
is the Gospel of Life. So, in one sense, we ask them to use
what the seminaries already have present for them to strengthen
their pro-life stance. Then, we also ask them to be present
and visible for the laity who are working very hard to stop
abortion and all attacks on the sacredness of life."
"This is about seminarians serving other seminarians. We
hope that makes for an organization of peers, a brother-to-brother
approach," said Deacon John Cyr, national director of Seminarians
for Life, a member of Bishop McNamara Council 1622 in Frederick,
Md., and a Fourth Degree Knight. "We are trying to organize
some information that will help seminarians in their pro-life
activity. We are trying to keep each other up-to-date and
on the same page."
The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council has provided financial
assistance to Seminarians for Life for its operations.
A Thirst and a Fervor for Life
Father Frank A. Pavone, national director of Priests for
Life, is encouraged by these new organizations. "These two
groups have come to me, on their own, because they see that
this is a logical progression. We [Priests for Life] work
to train priests. If they help on a peer-to-peer level with
their brother seminarians, not only to get more training,
but also the inspiration to join the pro-life cause, it certainly
makes our job easier," he said. "It is also a great satisfaction
for us when we speak in seminaries, because we see this thirst
and we see this fervor. So there is an integration here that
makes a lot of sense among all these different groups."
It is no small task to stay abreast of the most current information
regarding the legislative debates, court decisions and biotechnology
breakthroughs that surround pro-life issues in the 21st century.
But Seminarians for Life and Seminarian Life Link both make
information, ideas and the support of like-minded seminarians
easily accessible.
"An open response from seminarians is necessary, and a willingness
to get involved is crucial," said Steve Pokorny, a student
at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland and member of Immaculata
Council 3767 in Euclid. Ohio. "Seminarians need to step up
and take a stand. Although we need to be attentive to our
studies, sometimes we get caught up in the mentality of society
that says, 'The issue is too big; there's too much to be done,
so why bother?' It's a mindset that needs to be overcome through
education and prayer, as well as by keeping our souls open
to the needs of others."
Pro-life education is a part of the curriculum in every Catholic
seminary to differing degrees. At Sacred Heart Major Seminary
in Detroit, for example, it is addressed both in the classroom
and outside of it.
"In his apostolic exhortation after the Synod on Priestly
Formation in 1992 [Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Give You Shepherds)],
the Holy Father talks about apostolic, pastoral, intellectual
and spiritual formation for seminarians. I would like to think
that we are making an effort to include formation for respect
for life in all four of those areas," said Father Patrick
E Halfpenny, vice rector and dean of seminarian formation
at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Father Halfpenny is a member
of Msgr. A.X.M. Sharpe Council 600 in Keego Harbor, Mich.
"Both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, the students
have courses on moral theology which make extensive use of
the Catechism of the Catholic Church and papal documents,
such as the Holy Father's encyclical on the Gospel of Life
(Evangelium Vitae). So, intellectually they are being formed,"
Father Halfpenny explained. "Pastorally, they are being formed
in ways that are more overt. We always send a delegation from
the student body to the March for Life in Washington every
January. We try to make sure that different students get the
chance to attend. When they come back, we give them an opportunity
to give personal testimony to their respective student communities.
Then locally, on a voluntary basis, there are significant
numbers of students who participate in the Life Chain, and
weekly there is a group who goes to different abortion provider
clinics in the metropolitan area to witness and pray. Spiritually,
of course, their concern for pro-life issues shows up very
frequently at morning and evening prayer and at daily Mass
with their many intentions for recovery of respect for life
from conception until natural death."
Action, Knowledge and Prayer
Action as well as knowledge is needed to fight the Culture
of Death, and Bowman and Deacon Cyr agree that priests need
to take an active role in the pro-life movement.
"I believe that in order for the Culture of Death to be defeated,
there needs to be a revival of sorts among the people of faith.
Until we imitate our Lord and empty ourselves and embrace
the cross of victory once again, the Culture of Death will
remain a strong influence on society," Bowman said. "I also
believe that our priests must speak out against the horrors
that are taking place against life directly, such as contraception,
abortion and euthanasia. Our priests need to be actively encouraging
our faithful. That may mean that our priests be seen at abortion
facilities protesting, or helping out at pregnancy centers,
and it most assuredly means that they continue to study and
learn about the next wave of attacks on life, and that is
the bio-tech area."
He continued, "Where I believe that priests will have the
biggest impact is the post-abortive age that has begun. There
have been roughly 35 million abortions since Roe v. Wade,
so that means almost 70 million individuals suffer directly
from post-abortive symptoms. Our priests need to work to heal
and forgive these individuals. They need to bathe these individuals
in the oceans of God's mercy."
Both groups acknowledge that the demanding life of a seminarian
and a priest may not allow as much time for pro-fife work
as they would like. But both groups put a lot of emphasis
on the importance of preaching about pro-life issues to their
congregations, no matter what else they are able to do for
the cause.
"One of the primary things a priest can do is to preach the
pro-life message from the pulpit directly at least twice a
year," Deacon Cyr stated, such as near the Roe anniversary
in January and on Respect Life Sunday in October. "There are
little ways to be constantly pro-life from the pulpit, even
preaching at daily Mass and every weekend. When a pro-life
theme comes up in Scripture, even if it is not the main focus
in every homily, it can be something that is underneath everything
we are preaching and everything that we stand for."
A Pro-Life Vocation
Many young men currently studying for the priesthood credit
their pro-life activities with helping them to discern their
vocation and to answer the call.
"It does seem to me that a significant number of candidates
who present themselves for priestly formation these days come
with a deep conviction of the importance of respect for life
and a willingness to evangelize," said Father Halfpenny.
Father Pavone agrees. "I have found throughout the United
States that more and more of the men who go into the priesthood
today have found their vocations through the pro-life movement.
Many of them have been brought up by parents who had them
at their knees while the parents walked back and forth in
front of abortion clinics protesting and peacefully praying.
A lot of these seminarians today have grown up with this movement
and now are going to be even better equipped to lead the next
generation into this movement - hopefully a generation that
will bring the movement to its intended goal."
There are a lot of seminarians and priests with a passion
for pro-life work who would like to devote themselves entirely
to prayer and activism for this cause. Some new religious
orders of women were founded with pro-life apostolates, such
as the Sisters of Life in New York and the Servants of the
Gospel of Life in Indianapolis. But due to the shortage of
priests in most U.S. dioceses, most priests are not able to
do pro-life work full time. Many of them hope that in the
future the Church will allow the formation of a religious
order of men dedicated to pro-life ministry.
Molly Mulqueen writes regularly for the Catholic press
from West Bloomfield, Mich., where she is a wife and mother. |
