The Diocese of Richmond’s Office for Evangelization supports parishes and Catholic Schools with respect life efforts throughout the diocese. In addition, we work closely with Catholic organizations like the Virginia Catholic Conference, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia, and Commonwealth Catholic Charities to help refer people for direct services where needed.
Respect Life in the Diocese of Richmond encompasses a number of issues and initiatives that support the foundational Catholic moral principle that all human life is sacred from conception until natural death. Below is a high level list of the things we value as a diocese and as the Office for Evangelization to help promote a culture of life:
- Assuage the harms of abortion through sidewalk counseling, education, and awareness;
- Support mothers with additional options so they do not have to choose abortion;
- Provide access to healing for women and men who are experiencing trauma from the aftermath of abortion;
- Provide access to peer support for mothers and fathers who receive an adverse prenatal diagnosis;
- Provide support for education around end-of-life issues such as euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and ordinary palliative care;
- Promote the Church’s teaching on the harms of the death penalty;
- Enable parishes and schools easier access to the March for Life in Washington, DC;
- Maintain stewardship over the Respect Life Grant which is funded by the annual Respect Life Collection in parishes;
- Provide education and awareness on a variety of bioethics issues including embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, infertility treatments, etc.