Weekly Resources

Below are resources for each week of Respect Life Month.

Week 1: Created, Willed, and Loved by God

Spotlight: Abortion

What Is Ontological Dignity and Why Does It Matter?

Prayer

• St. Joseph, Defender of Life (Prayer Card)
• Homily Helps (Respect Life Sunday)

Learn

• Ohio Abortion Report 2025
• Hope After Aboration
• Poverty and Abortion
• What are abortion pills?

Additional Resources

• Diocesan Walking with Moms in Need/Gabriel Project Ministries

Week 2: Saying Yes with Mary

Spotlight: Human Trafficking

What Is Moral Dignity and Why Does It Matter?

Prayer

• St. Josephine Bakhita (Prayer Card)
• Homily Helps (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
• Pope Francis Homily at Lampedusa
• When Freedom and Love Were One (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen)

Learn

• Everyday Products Hidden Stories (Handout and Bulletin Insert)
• Human Trafficking (Handout and Bulletin Insert)
• Pastoral Orientations on Human Trafficking

Additional Resources

• Teleios Webpage
• Harriet Tubman Movement Webpage

Week 3: Dignity in Community

Spotlight: Poverty and Immigration

What Is Social Dignity and Why Does It Matter?

Prayer

• Divine and Human Mercy (Homily by St. Caesarius of Arles)
• Prayer Service: Honoring the Many Journeys that Shaped America

Learn

• Migration and Catholic Social Teaching
• Poverty (Handout and Bulletin Insert)
• Synthesis of Dilexi Te
• Trends in Forced Displacement Immigration

Advocacy

• Supporting Immigrants in Time of Need (Toolkit)

Additional Resources

• Refugee Resource Center Webpage
• Diocesan Immigration Assistance Fund
• USCCB’s Cabrini Pledge
• Poverty USA Webpage

Week 4: Mary at the Foot of the Cross

Spotlight: End-of-Life Care and Assisted Suicide

What is Existential Dignity and Why Does It Matter?

Learn

• Palliative Care vs. Assisted Suicide
• Top Reasons to Oppose Assisted Suicide

Serve

• Advance Medical Directives: Planning for Your Future

Additional Resources

• DSAO’s “Catholic Social Teaching Month” (November)