October is Respect Life Month; State Respect Life Conference Held in St. Augustine

As Pope John Paul II wrote, "We need to bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society" ( Evangelium Vitae, no. 80). Therefore, each October, the Catholic Church in the U.S. celebrates Respect Life Month with the goal of helping Catholics to integrate the respect life message into the life of parishes, schools and ministries. A new website developed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, respectlife.org, provides resources to assist Catholics with building year round a culture that cherishes every human life.

To coincide with Respect Life Month, the 2019 Florida Respect Life Conference was held October 11-12 in historical St. Augustine. National and state speakers on a variety of life issues, such as abortion, the death penalty, bioethics, poverty, and human trafficking, inspired and educated attendees. Bishop Bill Wack of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee celebrated the opening Mass on Friday evening. He was joined at the conference on Saturday by Bishop Felipe Estévez of the Diocese of St. Augustine and Bishop John Noonan of the the Diocese of Orlando. Rev. Hugh Gillespie, S.M.M., retreat master for Monfortian Retreats, served as the keynote speaker at the banquet on Saturday night. At the banquet,  Pro-Life Person of the Year Awards were presented to respect life leaders from each of the seven dioceses in Florida.

Mark your calendars: Beginning in 2020, the annual Florida Respect Life Conference will be named the Florida Culture of Life Conference. Next year's conference will be held in Palm Beach Gardens in the Diocese of Palm Beach on October 23-24, 2020.