Throughout the Church’s history, God has intervened in times of great moral crisis to raise up special communities with special charisms to address the problems of the day. For example, as pagans overran the Christian world in the 5^th and 6^th centuries and ushered in the "Dark Ages," God called upon one man to establish an order of monks who would keep the light of truth burning bright in the hearts of mankind. That man was Benedict, and his order of monks is known around the world as the Benedictines.

As the second millennium dawned, the Church found herself facing a new danger. Corruption in the clergy and ignorance in the laity were eating away at the Church’s moral foundation. Once again God stepped in and called two men to "rebuild" His Church. These were Francis (whose Franciscans reminded priests to embrace poverty and serve the needs of others) and Dominic (whose Dominicans provided teachers and preachers for the Church).

Moving forward five hundred years to the tumultuous 16^th century, the unity of the Church was again being threatened. Once again, God raised up a community led by a man with a special charism. That man was Ignatius of Loyola, and his community became known as the Jesuits.

Now we have just entered the third millennium. As has happened in the past, the Church finds herself battling a plague as spiritually fatal as any she has ever fought before—the plague of the culture of death. Indeed, there has never been a single force more insidious, more deadly, and more dangerous in the history of the Church of Christ. It is one that strikes at the very heart of the Gospel. For God is a God of Life, and His Son came so that we may have Life, and have it more abundantly!

Does it not make sense that, just as He has done in the past, God would intervene in the affairs of His Church and call forth a community of men willing to dedicate their lives to fighting this great evil?

At the start of the 1990’s, both Priests for Life and the Sisters of Life were started. The Sisters of Life was founded by Cardinal John O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, as a community of women religious.

Priests for Life, on the other hand, was established as a "Private Association of the Faithful," which means the priests and deacons who join it remain in their own ministries within their diocese or community, but give a special emphasis to the "life issues" in their daily work, and rely on the network and resources of Priests for Life to strengthen them in that aspect of their ministry. Moreover, Priests for Life does not have a "community" as such, nor can it accept seminarians to be trained for eventual full-time work with the association.

While there are religious congregations that have pro-life work as a dimension of their apostolic activity, there is no association of priests and brothers whose primary charism is to protect innocent human life from the tragedy of abortion; whose goal it is to liberate the unborn, to take up their cause for justice, and to fully activate the Church to preach, teach, and shape society to protect this segment of the human family. Priests for Life is the closest thing in the Church to such an entity, and while remaining what it is (as a resource for every priest), it can also provide the foundation from which such an association, as a distinct entity, can spring.

A Charism in the Church

There is certainly a charism at work within the Church to focus on the pro-life cause. The Sisters of Life embody it. Many others experience it, but don't necessarily have an institutional structure of which they can be a part in order to live out that charism and carry out the work connected with it. Many young men who feel attracted by this charism have approached me over the years and throughout the country, looking for a place in the Church where they can fulfill this vocation. They want to be priests, and they want to do pro-life work in their priesthood.

Being pro-life is not a hobby. It is a vocation. It is, first of all, a basic aspect of our vocation to be human, and a foundational element of our vocation as Christians. For these reasons, it is integral also to the priesthood. Everyone is called to live out this aspect of his or her vocation in one way or another; many do so by dedicating time to various forms of pro-life activities and prayers.

This new Association therefore, would provide the "institutional place" whereby this charism can be expressed for men who wish to become priests and brothers. It could also have a branch for lay persons in the world who, while pursuing the married or single life, want to give themselves and their skills to reversing the tragedy of abortion. We have encountered many of these people as well, some of whom have begun raising their own support in order to work full-time in the pro-life cause. They often lack, however, the spiritual support that comes from working together with a group of like-minded people in the same cause and with the same motivations based on Faith.

In the Church, various communities focus on a particular aspect of the Christian vocation, in order to strengthen the rest of us in our fidelity to that dimension of the Gospel. So, for example, the Sisters of Charity focus on service to the needy and vulnerable around the world. They are not the only ones called to exercise charity, but their existence reminds all of us of that common call. Likewise, the Blessed Sacrament Fathers are not the only ones who worship the Blessed Sacrament, but their focus on that aspect of our Faith encourages us all to worship the Sacrament more fervently.

So it is with a community focused on life. Pope John Paul II has written, "No single person or group has a monopoly on the defense and promotion of life. These are everyone's task and responsibility" (Evangelium Vitae, n.91). The purpose, therefore, of such a community is not to say, "We will take over doing pro-life work -- the rest of you don’t have to worry about it." Indeed, the purpose of the community would be just the opposite -- to raise a trumpet call to the whole Church to give the defense of life the priority it deserves, at every level of Church life and ministry!

What, in broad terms, would this new Association do?

Should the establishment of such a community be in accord with the will of the Church, its mission would be threefold:

1. To bear public witness, in every sector of society, to the sanctity of each human life, and to defend human life against the onslaught of abortion, euthanasia, and genetic manipulation.

2. To minister to the entire pro-life movement by offering spiritual support, guidance, solid teaching and direction.

3. To provide ongoing education and motivation for the clergy, helping them to network with each other and equipping them with the very best resources to preach, teach, counsel, and organize their people for pro-life activities.

These goals would be accomplished by traveling into local communities and parishes, and by doing extensive media work.

We have accomplished a great deal in all these areas just with four full-time priests on the Priests for Life staff. Imagine what could happen with forty or four-hundred!

The present Code of Canon Law allows for many varied types of structures within the Church. After much research, my own inclination is that a structure for pro-life priests that would be able to respond to the needs of the movement, would be an "active" rather than contemplative lifestyle, enabling its members to travel extensively and go where they are needed, even at very short notice.

For some years now, I have been consulting with experts in Canon Law, in religious life, and in the pro-life cause. I have talked with people who have formed other communities, various bishops and Cardinals, and officials at the Vatican. The responses have been uniformly positive and encouraging. People see the need for a visible expression of this very real charism in the Church, and they see the irrefutable logic for this need.

What is needed to get started on this monumentally important and potentially historic effort is simply: 1) a particular spirituality and rule of life, 2) men who are interested in possibly joining, and 3) a bishop who would take the effort under his authority.

I am happy to announce that these elements are all in place right now!

Conclusion

Some would wonder why, with such a shortage of priests, we would "divert" them to this specialized work. The answer is that the pro-life movement is precisely the source of many new vocations. Many will be led to the priesthood precisely because such a pro-life community exists. And this community would serve parishes nationwide.

People everywhere in the pro-life movement, especially members of the Church’s hierarchy, see the great need for a visible expression of this very real charism. They know that the Holy Spirit has raised up communities in the past—the Benedictines, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, and others—to address critical heresies and injustices of the times. As the world and the Church confront the evil of abortion—the bishops themselves call abortion the "fundamental human rights issue of our day"—is it not likely that God would set aside for Himself and His Church a group of men who would dedicate themselves to fighting for the sanctity of life?

It is no stretch of the imagination to say that in God’s Providence, He can use humble efforts such as this community to hasten the day of Victory over abortion and the Culture of Death.