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Respect Life
The Church proclaims the sacredness of each and every human life, from the very first moment of fertilization/conception til natural death - including the sacredness of how each human life in transmitted (cf., A Study Guide to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church).
Respect for Life is apparent in all of the Church's teaching.
"People with physical or psychological handicaps number, in effect, about 500 million, but many of these, unfortunately, do not yet have the benefit of the necessary services....
Public opinion, which devotes space and attention to passing themes, styles and customs, does not take adequate interest in such a serious problem....there is still a great deal left to be done to overcome the cultural, social and architectural barriers which hinder people with disabilities from realizing their legitimate aspirations....
entrusting purely discretional assistance to the generosity of some people is not enough....
International law clearly acknowledges that every human person has basic rights which are inalienable, inviolable and indivisible....
St. Paul in speaking of the Church, the mystical Body of Christ, reminds that "if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it" (1 Cor 12:26)....
The family, state and Church, three important structures of human society, are asked to make their own specific contribution towards the development of the culture of solidarity so that people with disabilities can become authentic and free agents of their own existence....
attention for those in need must always aim at further involving the whole ecclesial community, so that each person, and particularly the one in difficulty, can be fully integrated into the life of the family of believers" (Pope John Paul II, The Inalienable Rights of the Disabled, 11/21/93)
In 1978, the Catholic Bishops of the United States began to specifically remind us that our treatment of people with disabilities announced whether we stood for the Culture of Death or the Culture of Life. The Bishops ' Pastoral Statement on People with Disabilities clariffied that we have no option but to stand for life and the defense of vulnerable people. To be sure that this witness carried into our liturgical lives, the bishops gave us Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilites.
Concern for the catechesis of people with disabilities is emphatic in Canon Law: .
"There is a proper & serious duty, especially on the part of pastors of souls, to provide for the catechesis of the Christian people so that the faith of the faithful becomes living, explicit and productive through formation in doctrine and the experience of Christian living"(Canon 773).
"In accord with the norms established by the diocesan bishop,the pastor is to make particular provision:...that catechetical formation also be givento those handicapped in body or mindinsofar as their condition permits"(Canon 777)