Archbishop says society continues to struggle with true meaning of freedom
Archdiocese honors two women for their pro-life work
By Mary Ann Wyand
Respect Life Sunday is a time to gather in prayer and honor the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein told pro-life supporters attending the archdiocese’s annual Respect Life Mass on Oct. 2 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.
“We come to thank God for the gift of life,” he said. “ … We come to pray for a developing culture of life in our society.”
The Catholic Church “always has and always will continue to stand up for the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception to the moment of death,” Archbishop Buechlein said in his homily.
“Sometimes it may seem like ours is a lonely voice,” he said. “And so, this afternoon, I offer my thanks to you who hold fast to your pro-life commitment. We live in a culture that drifts more and more from its source, the Creator of our human dignity, from God himself. I commend you and I pray for you gratefully.”
Archbishop Buechlein said the Holy See notified the U.S. bishops about a document on women’s rights and reproductive health circulated at a United Nations summit in New York in late September.
The document advocates “abortion, contraception and other illicit means of family planning that are contrary to our Church’s teaching,” he said. Its purpose was to ensure that reproductive health
and women’s rights were discussed at the U.N. summit.
The document was sponsored by the International Interfaith Network on Development and Reproductive Health, and is endorsed by Catholics for a Free Choice.
“It would impact the efforts of our Church to foster the culture of life,” the archbishop said, and discredit “the position of our Church in defense of basic moral values, such as the dignity of all human life. … I cite it as an example of the manner in which erosion of the culture of life is intentionally fostered under the rubric of reproductive health and reproductive rights. … We continue to struggle in our culture to understand the true definition of human freedom and individual rights.”
St. Susanna parishioner Karen Burkhart of Plainfield, the Indiana death penalty abolition coordinator for Amnesty Interna-tional, received the 2005 Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Respect Life Award at the conclusion of the Mass.
Burkhart said the award is “a great honor” that she humbly accepts as “a representative of all those working to stop the brutality of the death penalty.”
She has been active in the abolitionist movement on the state, national and international levels since 1975, when she joined Amnesty International as a student.
Burkhart said receiving the award “reinforces the greater focus our Church is placing on eliminating the death penalty today. More Catholics are coming to the realization that the death penalty is a respect life issue. They are writing legislators and Gov. [Mitch] Daniels asking them to stop this cruel, unusual and degrading punishment in Indiana and throughout the world.”
Burkhart, whose full-time ministry is teaching, said everyone is called to respect the sanctity and dignity of all people.
“Respecting life is about loving our neighbor,” she said. “It becomes easier to see ways to respect life when we see the face of God in everyone. We need to continue to remember [that] we are called to emulate Jesus. He was once asked for his support of the death penalty. His reply: ‘Let one who is without sin cast the first stone.’ ”
Burkhart thanked her parents, “who have helped instill in me the Catholic values so important to my life,” as well as her friends for their encouragement, her husband, Joseph, for his continuing support, and their son, Michael, a Roncalli High School junior, who has joined her in abolition work.
The archdiocese’s recognition of Burkhart’s support of Church teachings opposing the death penalty came four days after the state executed Indiana Death Row inmate Alan Matheney at the penitentiary in Michigan City, Ind.
After the liturgy, Burkhart said “forgiveness is really important in all our lives” because it “allows us to let go of the pain and suffering that we endure for whatever offense that has been done to us.”
When she talks with people who have forgiven the person that killed their family member, Burkhart said, “what they say is that they are free of the burden of the anger and anguish that they had held for so long when they could not forgive.
“Our faith talks about how important it is to forgive, and it’s really more for the forgiver than the forgiven,” she said. “It really helps us to move on … and not hold a grudge against that person for a long period of time. It’s important too that we look for that forgiveness in all things in our lives.”
Sacred Heart of Jesus parishioner Jennifer Wulf of Terre Haute received the 2005 Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award for her Church, school and community service to the poor through Habitat for Humanity projects in Vigo County and Nazareth Farm volunteer service in Brown County and Appalachia as well as her participation in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and annual Life Chain in central Indiana. She also serves on the Archdiocesan Youth Council and assists with other peace and justice service projects in Terre Haute.
The daughter of Sacred Heart parishioner David Wulf of Terre Haute and the late Kimberly Wulf thanked God for “the opportunities and the gifts that he has blessed me with,” and her father for “the sacrifices he has made so that I was able to take full advantage of those gifts and opportunities.”
Jennifer dedicated the pro-life award to her late mother, “who I know has been watching over me my whole life and is very proud of me today.”
David Wulf said he is very proud of his daughter, a senior at Vigo North High School in Terre Haute.
“She is pretty diverse in her interests and has always been involved with the Church,” he said. “She probably got a lot of that [from attending Sacred Heart] parochial school.”
Following the Mass, about 2,000 pro-life supporters of all ages from a number of faith traditions participated in the 15th annual Central Indiana Life Chain along North Meridian Street in Indianapolis to pray for an end to abortion. †
