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Concerned about prenatal tests? Dealing with the aftermath of abortion and need help? Need help with living a chaste life or teaching your children about chastity? Have serious reasons to limit family size and need help? Struggling with infertility and need help? Thinking about adoption and need help? Have
a family member who is disabled (or you are disabled) and need help? Struggling with end of life issues and need help?
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Pregnant and need help?
If
you are pregnant (or think you may be) and you need assistance, or if you know
someone else who needs assistance with a pregnancy, you may want to contact one
or more of the following:
National
Life Center 1-800-848-LOVE
Birthright
1-800-550-4900
*The Nurturing Network provides complete services including college
and employment transfers, as well as medical, housing, certified counseling, and
other assistance to unwed mothers.
Concerned
about prenatal tests?
“Since it must
be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its
integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human
being. Prenatal diagnosis is
morally licit, “if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the
human fetus and is directed toward its safe-guarding or healing as an
individual… It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the
thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a
diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence.”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church,
2274)
You may access
additional information on prenatal testing from the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops by going to:
www.nccbuscc.org/shv/testing.htm
Dealing with the aftermath of abortion and need help?
If you are
dealing with the aftermath of abortion – whether you are the mother, father,
grandparent, sibling or friend – there is confidential help available.
In the Diocese
of Rockford, referrals for help may be obtained by calling 1-815-877-5433.
Outside the Diocese, you may call 1-800-WECARE2 or visit the web
site for “Project Rachel”:
In the Gospel of
Life, Pope John Paul II writes a special word to women who have had an abortion:
“The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in you heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone’s right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoter of a new way of looking at human life.”
Need
help with living a chaste life or teaching your children about chastity?
“Married
people are called to live conjugal [matrimonial] chastity; others practice
chastity in continence [abstinence].” (Catechism of the Catholic Church,
2349). “Parents are well aware
that living conjugal chastity themselves
is the most valid premise for educating their children in chaste love and
holiness of life." ” (The Truth and
Meaning of Human Sexuality, 20. The
Pontifical Council for the Family, 1996).
“The practice
of decency and modesty in speech, action and dress is very important for
creating an atmosphere suitable to the growth of chastity, but this must be well
motivated by respect for one’s own body and the dignity of others.
Parents, as we have said, should be watchful so that certain immoral
fashions and attitudes do not violate the integrity of the home, especially
through misuse of the mass media.” (The
Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, 56.
The Pontifical Council for the Family, 1996).
Additional
information for single adults may be found at the following web sites:
www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/publicat/lifeissues/4398.htm
www.catholic-pages.com/dir/sexuality.asp
Parents may
obtain additional information on the following sites:
www.ccli.org/chastity/index.shtml
www.catholic-pages.com/dir/youth.asp
Have serious reasons to limit family size and need help?
The Church
teaches that “for just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their
children. It is their duty to make
certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity
with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood.” (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2368). This
spacing may be achieved only by “periodic continence, that is, the methods of
birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile
periods…” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2370).
To learn about
the methods of moral birth regulation, contact (in the Rockford Diocese) Natural
Family Planning at 1-815-399-4300 or the Respect Life Office1-815-877-LIFE.
You may also
want to visit the following web sites:
www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/issues/nfp/index.htm
Struggling with infertility and need help?
If you and your
spouse are struggling with infertility and desire morally and professionally
acceptable methods, you may want to contact the Pope Paul VI Institute at
1-402-390-6600 or visit the following web sites:
www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/tdocs/donumvitae.htm
“The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord’s Cross, the source of all spiritual fecundity. They can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2379).
Thinking about adoption and need help?
“The
Church’s teachings on marriage and family also apply in adoption.
When a child is abandoned, orphaned or born to parents who decide that
they are unable to make and fulfill a promise to God about the care of the
child, adoption can be the best alternative.
The responsibility then of the adoptive parents is to work for the good
of the child, not simply in the physical or economic dimensions, but also in the
spiritual one. The creation of a Christian family is not a function of
biology. It is grounded in the
belief that God creates each of us in His image and likeness, to be fully human
and to share in God’s life.” This
is one paragraph from a wonderful article written by Brenda Destro,
“Celebrating the Good Message of Adoption,” January 25, 2000 for the United
States Catholic Conference. To read
the entire article, click below.
www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/programs/rlp/97rlpdes.htm
Whether you are thinking of placing a child for adoption or adopting a child, you may call Catholic Charities (in the Rockford Diocese) 1-815-965-0895 or outside the Diocese at 1-800-CARE-002
Have
a family member who is disabled (or you are disabled) and need help?
“Each person
is created in God’s image, yet there are variations in individual abilities.
Positive recognition of these differences discourages discrimination and
enhances the unity of the Body of Christ. Our
defense of life and rejection of the culture of death requires that we
acknowledge the dignity and positive contributions of our brothers and sisters
with disabilities. We unequivocally
oppose negative attitudes toward disability which often dead to abortion,
medical rationing, and euthanasia.” (National Conference of Catholic
Bishops/United States Catholic Conference document.
“Welcome and Justice for Persons with Disabilities,” February 4,
1999).
If you need
assistance, you may call (in the Rockford Diocese) the St. Francis Office for
Persons with Disabilities at 1-815-965-0895 or you may contact the National
Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities at 1-202-529-2933 or e-mail:
ncpd@ncpd.org
Help for the elderly?
“In addition
to the obvious psychological need of the elderly themselves, the most natural
place to spend one’s old age continues to be the environment in which one
feels most “at home”, among family members, acquaintances and friends, where
one can still make oneself useful. As
the number of older people increases, keeping pace with the rise in average life
expectancy, it will become more and more important to promote a widespread
attitude of acceptance and appreciation of the elderly, and not relegate them to
the fringes. The ideal is still for
the elderly to remain within the family, with the guarantee of effective social
assistance for the greater needs which age or illness entail.
On the other
hand, there are situations where circumstances suggest or demand that they be
admitted to “homes for the elderly” where they can enjoy the company of
others and receive specialized care. Such
institutions are indeed praiseworthy, and experience shows that they can provide
a valuable service when they are inspired not only by organizational efficiency
buy also by loving concern. Everything
becomes easier when each elderly resident is helped by family, friends and
parish communities to feel loved and still useful to society.
How can we fail to mention here, with admiration and gratitude, the
Religious Congregations and volunteer groups specifically devoted to the care of
the aged, especially the poor, the abandoned and those in difficulty?”
(Letter of His Holiness Pope John Paul II To The Elderly, 1999)
If you are
elderly and need assistance, or if you are caring for the elderly and need help,
you may call Catholic Charities (in the Diocese of Rockford) at 1-815-965-0895
or outside the Diocese at 1-815-965-0895
Struggling with end of life issues and need help?
While no one
likes to think about death and dying, it is a fact of life that all of us –
including our loved ones – will die someday.
Unfortunately,
today many people are faced with making decisions about end of life issues for
themselves and others and they are confused.
It is important that we understand the teaching of the Church in these
areas and not let our consciences be formed by the secular media which often
tells us that we can eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops addresses the issues surrounding death and dying.
“Those whose
lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect.
Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as
possible.” (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2276).
“Whatever its
motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of
handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It
is morally unacceptable. Thus and
act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to
eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the
human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.
The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not
change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and
excluded.” (Catechism of the Catholic
Church, 2277).
“Discontinuing
medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or
disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of
“over-zealous” treatment. Here
one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely
accepted. The decisions should be
made by the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always
be respected.” (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 2278).
“Even if death
is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be
legitimately interrupted. The use
of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of
shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death
is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as
inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity.
As such it should be encouraged.” (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2279).
For additional
information, you may want to visit the following web sites:
www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/issues/euthanas/index.htm
www.internationaltaskforce.org
