Bishop Gaydos to join in Rosary for Human Life, Oct. 12 in Cathedral

Major debates and decisions are on the horizon in Missouri and the entire nation regarding research involving the creation, manipulation, commodification and destruction of innocent human life. In anticipation of those decisions, Bishop John R. Gaydos invites Catholics throughout the Jefferson City diocese to join him in praying a Rosary for the Safeguarding of Embryonic Human Life, beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12,  in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.

During a special service, the bishop will lead the faithful in praying the Rosary and invoking the intercession of Mary under her title Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and of pre-born children. Bishop Gaydos urges each parish to send representatives to the service. It will mark the beginning in the diocese of a Rosary Crusade for the protection of human life at its earliest, most vulnerable stages — specifically as people seek to use human embryos for scientific research.

“I look forward to as many people as possible taking this opportunity to witness to our reliance on Mary’s intercession as we stand up for the sanctity of human life,” said Bishop Gaydos. “As we are facing serious challenges, we must rely on Almighty God and trust in prayer. ‘Crusade’ means ‘a remedial endeavor, conducted with zeal and enthusiasm.’”

The Rosary Crusade, dedicated to prayerfully reversing society’s movement toward a culture of death, recalls the miraculous victory of the Christian army over the invading Turks in the naval Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Invoking the intercession of the Blessed Mother, Pope (now Saint) Pius V urged all the faithful to pray the Rosary for protection of the vastly outnumbered Christian army. Inexplicable — many would say miraculous — was the Christian army’s victory at Lepanto, which saved Europe from falling to non-Christian invaders. The faithful attributed the victory to Mary’s intercession and the power of prayer.

Invincible allies

Through the Rosary Crusade, Missouri’s Catholic bishops have called for that same level of faith and prayerful vigilance to defeat ongoing efforts to compromise the sanctity of human life in the name of scientific research. Missourians in 2006 very narrowly approved Amendment 2, granting protection under the state Constitution for the use of human embryos in medical research, as well as the cloning of human embryos for such research.

Because research on human embryos results in the intentional killing of innocent human life, the Catholic Church upholds the universal, objective truth that such research is always immoral and always gravely sinful. Instead, the Church enthusiastically supports life-saving scientific and medical research that does not involve stem cells from embryonic sources. Such non-embryonic research continues to yield new treatments for serious, life-threatening diseases. Pro-life experts agree that medical breakthroughs in non-embryonic stem-cell research will continue to overshadow the kind of research that cheapens human life.

Overcoming the effects of Amendment 2 in Missouri will require a tremendous amount of hard work and cooperation among people of diverse backgrounds and political persuasions. But more than anything, it will require help from God, which is why people devote more energy to prayer.

“Certainly we have had challenges before, but rarely have they been so severe,” the diocesan Pro Life Committee stated in a recent letter to pastors in the diocese. “As in the past, we must rely on Almighty God and trust in prayer. We know that the Rosary and Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of Life, have been our invincible allies in times like these. By invoking the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Bishop Gaydos stated, “I am confident that hearts and minds will change in an even greater appreciation of the sanctity of God’s gift of human life.”

Safeguarding human life