The Staff and Departments of Priests for Life

The paid staff of Priests for Life (some of whom are pictured above) consists of 50 people working in offices in New York, Washington DC, Amarillo TX, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Rome. Priests for Life also has an internship program whereby students, including seminarians, can work on special projects during the summer, and through such work receive specialized training in the pro-life movement.

The work of our staff is divided into various departments.

The Priest Associates are priests, either diocesan or religious, who are given permission by their Ordinary to work full-time with Priests for Life. In this capacity, they primarily travel throughout the world speaking about abortion and euthanasia, with special emphasis on the clergy as the target audience.

The Public Outreach department consists of people who respond to phone calls from the public. The callers are usually responding to Priests for Life television or radio shows, items on our website, or visits that one of our speakers made to their community. The callers often look for guidance as to how to be more active in the pro-life movement, or how to articulate the pro-life message more effectively. Priests will ask for resources for preaching, counseling, or pro-life activities that their people can carry out. People in need of alternatives to abortion or post-abortion healing also call our toll-free number. We often receive calls from people who have moving testimonies to relate regarding their pro-life activism, their conversion to a pro-life position, or in some cases their witness of an abortion. Our staff is trained to reply to emergencies immediately, and to any other messages within 24 hours.

The Correspondence department responds to the high volume of letters and emails that come into our office from people requesting more information about the pro-life movement, or asking questions about pro-life issues we have discussed in our educational materials, travels, or television and radio appearances.

The Receptionists handle a very busy daily load of phone calls, emails, and visitors, and make sure that all information coming into the office is distributed to the appropriate departments.

The Resource department responds to the high volume of orders we receive each day for our materials, primarily brochures, bulletin inserts, and audio/video resources. Thousands of these items are sent out each week to parishes, schools, pro-life organizations, and interested individuals.

The Speakers' department receives invitations from around the world for the priests and lay members of our Speakers' Bureau to visit local dioceses, parishes, schools, and communities. The department assesses the invitations based on the availability of our speakers and the strategic plan for our outreach. Once a trip is approved, this department -- in communication with the inviting party -- arranges all the details of that trip as well as the follow-up. Trips include parish weekends, clergy conference, pro-life conventions, retreats, seminars, pro-life marches and prayer vigils, banquets, press conferences and media interviews, and other events.

The Department of Diocesan Outreach maintains communication with each diocese in the United States and with their various offices, including those of the bishop, the Respect Life coordinator, the Office of Clergy Education, and the Office of the Permanent Diaconate. The department likewise communicates with every seminary in the United States. It coordinates ways in which Priests for Life can assist these diocesan offices and seminaries in planning and carrying out pro-life activities, including visits from Priests for Life. It maintains a regular exchange of information between each diocese and Priests for Life regarding pro-life activities, strategies, and publications. This department also oversees the outreach we make to retreat centers and other Catholic organizations throughout the nation, as well as coordinates the membership of Priests for Life in certain national associations such as those for Directors of Ongoing Education of Clergy, for Campus Ministers, for Priests' Councils, and for Chaplains. Through this department, finally, information is sent to every bishop, priest, and deacon in the country on a regular basis.

The Faithful Citizenship Department. Working with an expert legal team, Priests for Life carries out the full measure of non-partisan activities that Churches and Church organizations can undertake to foster active participation in our nation's political process. These activities include fostering non-partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, as well as voter and candidate education.

The Media department fosters relationships with the secular and religious media, arranges for interviews of our speakers, sends out our press releases and follows up on them, and coordinates the involvement of Priests for Life in various national media associations such as the Catholic Press Association and the National Religious Broadcasters.

The Website department works to design, maintain and update over a dozen websites which Priests for Life handles both for its own activities and for certain other organizations which rely on our assistance.

The Research department consists of full-time researchers who assist the organization with strategic research, the gathering of the latest information and publications on all aspects of the abortion issue, contact with other researchers throughout the world, and opposition research, by which we study the strategies, publications and activities of those who defend and promote abortion.

The Volunteer department coordinates the activity of the team of volunteers from the local community who come each week to the Priests for Life office to assist in the preparation of mailings, or resources, and with other tasks.

The Finance department handles the day to day financial transactions and records for the organization, and utilizes the services of highly-respected legal and financial experts in the field of accounting and auditing.

The Fundraising department coordinates the various levels of fundraising, such as direct mail (regular appeals and prospecting), submission of grant proposals to foundations, meetings with potential donors, and assistance to donors who wish to make Priests for Life a beneficiary when they do their financial planning.

The Gifts department receives the donations each day through the mail, through credit card, and through our website. These donations are entered into our database, and thank-you letters are sent out daily. This department handles all deposits and inquiries from the public about their donations.

The Data department is responsible for maintaining the accuracy of our set of inter-locking databases by doing data entry, data corrections, and special coding to identify particular details of various groups of people. Special tasks involving data processing and the creation of new databases are also assigned to this department.

The International Department. Priests for Life has offices in Rome and is likewise established in several other countries, while maintaining communication with pro-life leaders in many parts of the world. Our speakers are invited to international pro-life gatherings and strategy sessions, and we provide materials and advice to pro-life groups and individuals other countries.