. . . because action speaks louder than words.
League history, NOW v. Scheidler, Action News, Joe Scheidler, League staff
Q & A on abortion, the unborn child, where we stand on the issues and more
Helping abortion-bound women choose life for their babies
Unmasking the truth about abortion in the public square
Our youth outreach, raising up a new generation of pro-life leaders
Abortion industry converts tell the inside story
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
You are currently browsing the archives for the The Church category.
Here at the Pro-Life Action League we have received many inquiries over the years about the “Rosary of the Unborn™,” a rosary produced by Holy Love Ministries in Elyria, Ohio that claims to bear certain promises from the Blessed Virgin Mary through messages given to purported visionary Maureen Sweeney Kyle.
People have contacted us to exhort us to employ and promote the devotion, but others have had questions about the veracity of the claims surrounding it.
Relevant Radio’s Father Rocky Hoffman was recently asked about Holy Love Ministries on the air and further clarified the Catholic Church’s position on the matter on Facebook, so it seems like a good time to address the issue. [Continue reading ...]
Indeed He is risen!
During this Easter Week, we take special consolation in the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. Not only is it the central event of our faith life, but it also provides us with great encouragement in our ongoing battle against abortion.
By conquering death, Jesus has also conquered abortion. As a result, we know that the outcome of the struggle that we carry on — this seemingly endless conflict between life and death — has already been decided.
We have, so to speak, been allowed to read the book’s final chapter before we actually get to it. We know that in the end, Life will be victorious.
From time to time, all of us need to remind ourselves of this, lest we lose heart.
March 25, 1990—League Director Joe Scheidler (pictured in full regalia at a 40 Days for Life vigil) is honored to be made a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus with a council in Farmington, Michigan, distinguished for its strong commitment to pro-life activism. The Knights are an organization of Catholic men who perform many acts of charity, including working with pro-life causes, and often serve as an honor guard for Catholic notables.
Monsignor Philip Reilly
Indomitable pro-life veteran and world renowned sidewalk counselor Monsignor Philip Reilly will visit the Chicago area on April 8-9 for a series of events focusing on the spiritual battle against abortion.
Msgr. Reilly has been active in the pro-life movement since 1967 — six years before Roe v. Wade — and in 1989, along with just four volunteers, he founded the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants outside the infamous Choices abortion center in Brooklyn, New York. Helpers Chapters now span across the United States and 18 countries worldwide.
Don’t miss this chance to learn from and pray with this holy priest!
The schedule for Msgr. Reilly’s Chicago visit is as follows:
March 20, 2009—The League learns that the newly-inaugurated President Barack Obama has been scheduled to give the commencment address at the University of Notre Dame, Director Joe Scheidler’s alma mater. League Communications Director Eric Scheidler immediately issues a press release, making the League the first pro-life organization in the country to denounce Obama’s visit to Notre Dame. Over the coming months, appeals to Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins would go unheeded, and a weeks-long protest would be launched, culminating in a massive protest on commencement day.
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin celebrates the burial Mass for thousands of aborted unborn babies in 1988.
On March 9, Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn signed legislation ending the use of the death penalty in the State of Illinois. Quinn cited statements by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, as well as his reading of the Bible, as “very helpful in reflecting on this issue.”
Quinn drew his inspiration for his position on the death penalty from Fr. Alphonse Spilly’s biography of Bernardin, The Gift of Peace, which focuses on the cardinal’s struggle with a false accusation and with cancer.
Although The Gift of Peace does not address the issue of the death penalty, it is a fact that Cardinal Bernardin spoke of the death penalty as an attack on the value of human life as part of his theory of the consistent ethic of life. He stated, speaking as the director of the U. S. Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat, “We have also opposed the death penalty because we do not think its use cultivates an attitude of respect for life in society.” [Continue reading ...]
March 2, 1998—League Directors Joe and Ann Scheidler attend morning Mass on the first day of the NOW v. Scheidler trial, originally filed 12 years before. In the case, Joe and other pro-life leaders are accused of “racketeering” for their presence at abortuaries. The Psalm reading is especially apt: “I hear the whispers of the crowd, they consult together against me, plotting. Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.”
February 6, 1983—The Chicago Sun-Times publishes an article about “the New Sisters,” such as abortion clinic “escort” Donna Quinn (pictured left), a Sinsiniwa Dominican who believes the Catholic Church should condone abortion. In a response published immediately after the appearance of Sun-Times article, League Director Joe Scheidler declares, “It is deceitful, hypocritical and damaging to stay in an organization that preaches one thing, when you are teaching what we used to call heresy.”
Fr. Alfred Tumwesigye blesses the new statue at Resurrection Hospital in Chicago [Photo by Ann Scheidler]
Sidewalk counseling is a difficult job at best. Trying to offer a different perspective and a better choice to women who have apparently thought about what to do with an unplanned pregnancy and have chosen abortion is no easy task.
For those of us who take up that challenge and stand in front of the abortion clinics, every avenue of support is vital. We depend heavily on the counselors at the pregnancy resource centers so that we can promise real help to women in crisis. But sometimes the pregnant moms need even more than a pregnancy center can provide.
Here in Chicago we are blessed with a new resource in support of life. Resurrection Medical Center, responding to our very specific needs in the case of late term abortions, has initiated a special protocol to handle women who change their minds after beginning a two or three day abortion procedure. [Continue reading ...]
![Pro-lifers at the 2011 March for Life [Photo by John Jansen]](http://prolifeaction.org/pix/2010/march20111.jpg "march20111")
Pro-lifers at the 2011 March for Life [Photo by John Jansen]
Hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans flocked to the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Monday, January 24, marking the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, and the staff of the Pro-Life Action League was privileged to be a part of this historic event.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the sold-out Students for Life of America conference, which included a workshop on sidewalk counseling conducted by Pro-Life Action League Associate JT Eschbach. Over 1,800 students attended the conference, which was by all accounts a great success. [Continue reading ...]