Pro-Life Programs/Events Provided or Supported by the Diocese of Evansville
The diocese coordinates endeavors of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities authored by the United States Catholic Conference Bishops, activating the Church, its people and its institutions in a 4-pronged program in defense of human life through education, pastoral care, public policy and prayer.
Public Information:  Educate both the Catholic Community and the public at large about pro-life issues.
Pastoral Care:  Provide spiritual/material support for those in need.
Public Policy:  Follow and support legislative efforts directed to ensure effective legal protection for all human life.
Prayer & Worship:  Provide direction to participation in the sacramental life of the church and in programs of communal and individual prayer.
This has been actively carried out in our diocese through various programs, events and the support of numerous parish activities in the following ways:

Pro-Life Coordinators
Each of our 69 parishes has a Pro-Life Coordinator who works with the pastor and is the liaison to the Respect Life Director at the Diocesan Level. The parish based Pro-Life Coordinator is the "backbone" of the diocesan ministry. Their role is to bring pro-life issues to the forefront of their local church parish community. They do this by:

• coordinating the parish implementation of the annual Respect Life Program, promoting it to agencies and organizations in the parishes, especially schools and religious education programs; and encourage parish discussion groups to use the program as a basis for their discussions.
• promoting and assisting pregnancy counseling and comprehensive maternity support services, as well as post-abortion counseling and reconciliation programs, and make these well known in the parish and local community.
• developing or adopting, where feasible, a parish-based ministry that addresses pro-life issues such as Gabriel Project, Stephen Ministry and Elizabeth Ministry.
• encouraging and supporting parishioners' involvement in services to help those who are chronically ill, disabled, or dying and their families.
• sponsoring programs of prayer in the parish to pray for mothers and their unborn children, for those who are dying, for those who are disabled, for prisoners on death row and those they have harmed, and indeed for all who are in need, that the culture of death that surrounds us may be replaced by a culture of life.
• fostering awareness of the need to restore legal protection to the lives of unborn children to the maximum degree possible and to safeguard in law the lives of those who are chronically ill, disabled, or dying as directed by the USCCB or ICC.
• keeping parishioners informed of upcoming important legislation and at the direction of the diocesan Respect Life Director organizing letter-writing, postcard campaigns or similar appropriate activities when important votes are expected.

Project Rachel
Project Rachel is a confidential healing outreach to women and men hurting from abortion. This ministry offers confidential Christian counseling ministry offering hope and healing to women and men hurting from past abortions. Catholic Charities is a faith-based service that offers affordable, professional, and confidential counseling with a spiritual dimension that works toward rebuilding your life following an abortion.
Project Rachel operates as a network of healing composed of specially-trained caregivers which may include priests, deacons, sisters, lay staff and volunteers, mental health professionals, spiritual directors, mentors, chaplains and others, such as medical personnel. These individuals, often working as a team, provide direct care to women, men and adolescents who have been touched by an abortion loss, enabling them to grieve, receive forgiveness, and find peace. Today Project Rachel programs can be found in about 150 Catholic dioceses in the United States, including the Diocese of Evansville. (Learn more about Project Rachel)

Rachel’s Vineyard
Rachel's Vineyard weekend retreats offer healing to any man or woman who has struggled with the emotional or spiritual pain of an abortion. The program is an opportunity to examine your abortion experience, identify the ways that the loss has impacted you in the past and present, and helps to acknowledge any unresolved feelings that many individuals struggle with after abortion. Because of the emotional numbness and secrecy that often surrounds an abortion experience, conflicting emotions both during and after the event may remain unresolved. These buried feelings can surface later and may be symptoms of post abortion trauma.
For more information on a retreat near our diocese please contact:
Archdiocese of Indianapolis - 1-800-382-9836 x1521
Diocese of Owensboro - (270) 683-6933 or (www.hopeafterabortionky.com)

Gabriel Project
The Gabriel Project is a parish based ministry that reaches out to women with unplanned or crisis pregnancies to provide support and help them choose life. Locally the Catholic parishes involved are supported by Catholic Charities. The project is already active in several hundred Protestant and Catholic churches across America, but the Diocese of Evansville is the last in Indiana to bring the program to their churches.
Our community has always offered many resources to assist pregnant women in need, but are the women always finding all the resources available? Are they getting the spiritual and emotional support they need to have the courage to maintain a healthy pregnancy, and make decisions that will affect the well-being of themselves and their babies? The Gabriel Project ministry and its volunteers answer this call.
St. John’s Daylight was the first parish to launch this ministry in June 2008 followed by a group of several Catholic and Protestant churches in Gibson County in November 2008. This past February a large group of volunteers launched the program at St. Benedict’s. Thus far these volunteers have worked with over 30 women in need of support, guidance and prayers. For more information please contact Emily Snipes at (812) 423-5456.

Respect Life Program
The cornerstone of the bishops' pro-life educational outreach on a variety of life issues, the Respect Life Program launches on Respect Life Sunday, the first Sunday each October. The USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities publishes a packet of resources in both English and Spanish, including articles on current issues, posters, program suggestions, prayer resources and liturgical guides. The diocese provides these materials to parishes, schools and other interested individuals/groups and encourages pro-life coordinators to work with their parish to provide educational opportunities.

Mass for Life
Every January our diocese hosts a Mass for Life (formerly known as Sanctity of Life Mass) the weekend prior to March for Life. The purpose is to unite our prayers with Catholics throughout the country who are praying to turn hearts towards Christ, thus bringing an end to abortion and the destruction it causes to all those involved. The primary goal of the Mass for Life is to create and sustain respect for human life at every stage of its existence. Youth, young adults and pro-life coordinators from our diocese assist with the Mass.

Diocesan March for Life Pilgrimage
Youth and young adults from around the diocese will be heading to Washington, D.C. in January 2012 to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves – the unborn. We are making our first diocesan pilgrimage that focuses on the Church’s undeniable call for the respect of all human life.
As Catholics, we are called to a consistent ethic of life and we are called to stand against any law, movement or ideology that is opposed to the fundamental right to life. Our hope is that our prayerful presence will persuade our legislators to take steps to overturn unjust and unethical laws that destroy human life. Registration and pilgrimage details are available through the Office of Youth and Young Adults as well as on the diocesan website (http://www.evansville-diocese.org).

Our diocese also addresses a variety of pro-life issues:

• We provide on-going resources, presentations and programming in the area of chastity/abstinence and Theology of the Body.
• Support is given to the Holy Family Center for Life which offers professional services in Natural Family Planning for our diocese and community. Trained practitioners follow the guidelines of the Pope Paul VI Institute for Human Reproduction and are compatible with Catholic reproductive health service ideals.  (Learn more about Natural Family Planning)
• Offering Mother/Daughter and Father/Son programs annually that are rooted in building a foundation for youth that teaches the dignity of the human person. These programs emphasize respect, understanding and appreciation for God’s gifts.
• Catholic Charities provides crisis pregnancy counseling and adoption services.
• Capital Punishment - A prayer vigil opposing the death penalty was held in December 2009.
• Support is given to the Prayer Service for the Culture of Life held the first Wednesday of each month at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
• State & National Legislation – Promotion and participation in Indiana Catholic Action Network and USCCB initiatives. Most recently participated in Freedom of Choice Act postcard campaign.
• Health Care Reform – The diocese participated at the direction of the USCCB in distributing pulpit announcements, bulletin inserts, prayer petitions, and publishing ads regarding their stance on reform in October 2009.
• Educational articles and commentary printed in The Message on topics such as:  stem cell research, capital punishment, NFP awareness week, infertility and Church teaching, chastity/abstinence, March for Life, active citizenship, healthcare reform, Freedom of Choice Act and more.

For more information please contact Emily Snipes at (812) 423-5456.