Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Women in Religion
Every Catholic Parish Should Be a Pro-Life Resource

Every Catholic Parish Should Be a Pro-Life Resource

Last updated on: January 11, 2022 at 9:50 pm by Lois Kerschen

Every Catholic Parish Should Be a Pro-Life Resource 2022-01-11T21:50:23-08:00 Lois Kerschen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Every Catholic parish should be a resource for women with unplanned pregnancies. If we are committed to the sanctity of life, then we have to be active in caring for mothers and babies in need.

Every diocese has a Respect Life office, and most parishes have a pro-life committee of some sort. These committees, however, might be involved in just 40 Days for Life or educational materials for the parish community.

Walking with Moms in Need

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops decided, therefore, to promote Walking with Moms in Need. This program is a “nationwide—yet parish-based—initiative to increase outreach and support to pregnant and parenting mothers in need.”

The name of the program indicates that Catholics should walk in the shoes of women with unplanned pregnancies, getting to know how to help moms in difficult circumstances, building relationships, sympathy and understanding with them.

Launched as a one-year initiative in March of 2020, Walking with Moms in Need could not be fully promoted in that time frame because of the pandemic. Parishes are still encouraged to access and implement the materials at https://www.walkingwithmoms.com/

The idea is not to create pregnancy resource centers at parishes, but to support such centers and fill in the resource gaps based on the talents and skills of the parishioners. The Church supports many social services agencies, and this program meaningfully introduces parishioners to them and others.

The USCCB hopes that: “Together, we can work towards the day when any pregnant or parenting mother in need can turn to her local Catholic parish and be connected to supportive, life-affirming help.”

With the Supreme Court on the brink of reversing Roe v. Wade, the pro-life community knows it has to be prepared to increase its efforts to aid pregnant and parenting women in need. Parishes and individuals have a number of different ways they can help.

Embrace Grace Support Groups

One of the ways that I recommend is to have an Embrace Grace support group at your church. This program equips churches “to love and support the single and pregnant young women in their communities.” https://embracegrace.com/

Since it is a support group, Embrace Grace does not require a large commitment of people or funds from the church. The group meets weekly for 12 weeks and teaches mothers how to maintain hope and their dreams, be brave, and have their babies too.

Along the way, the mothers will meet others with similar experiences and make new friends. The dads can be involved as well. For a church, it is a “powerful opportunity to be a catalyst of change in a woman’s life as well as broaden its community outreach.”

The Embrace Grace nonprofit organization “provides all the tools, on-going training and support and the curriculum” needed to implement the program. The fun part is the baby shower at the end of the program, to which the whole parish can be invited!

An alternate, simple thing to do is have a party to build love boxes for the women who come to a pregnancy resource center. Embrace Grace provides all the items for the box, and the church members have fun while gaining knowledge about the kind of encouragement women in crisis need.

Among other items, the Love Box contains a hand-written Letter of Hope. A church group can also volunteer to write these notes, using a downloaded template. It’s a great outreach project that can positively affect the writer as much as the recipient.

So Many Ways for Pro-Life Outreach

There are a number of easy, impactful ways a parish can take pro-life action. You can always do a diaper drive or have the fun of a baby shower, then take the items to a local pregnancy resource center or to a shelter, maternity residence or other charity.

Whatever your parish decides to do, I recommend publicizing the program or event as much as possible. The mothers need to know the help is out there, and the public needs to know that Catholics are not just talking the talk but walking the walk with the moms in need.

Patheos Catholic

Embrace Grace

pro-life action

support for pregnant women

Walking with Moms in Need

Previous Post

January 8, 2022

Ask and Thou Shalt Receive: The Sr. Blandina Method

Next Post

January 14, 2022 Guilt Is Good. Confession Is Better.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Patheos Catholic Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 May 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 September 2023 July 2023 June 2023 February 2023 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Peter James Paul