It is in the local communities of the Diocese – the parishes, schools and other groups – that the most significant part of the Church’s Respect Life ministry unfolds. There, members of the faithful are informed, inspired and challenged to give witness to the Church’s teaching that every human life, both born and pre-born, is sacred and deserving of dignity.
In service to the parish-level ministries, the Diocese has established a new Respect Life structure that will connect parish ministers with county-based priest chaplains, chosen lay leaders and a cross-section of diocesan departments and personnel to organize key Respect Life projects and outreach campaigns throughout the year.
The new configuration is an outcome of a diocesan reorganization conducted over the past five months. Respect Life Ministry will no longer be a centralized focus in the diocesan Chancery, but will be spread out over multiple departments and the new county-based organization of parishes.
“This mirrors reality,” said Terry Ginther, diocesan executive director of Pastoral Life and Mission. “Respect Life must be part and parcel of the witness of all Catholics.”
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., recently announced the vicariate chaplains – Father Jarlath Quinn for Mercer County, Father Joselito Noche for Burlington County, Father Edward Jawidzik for Monmouth County, and Father James O’Neill for Ocean County. Ginther said that county meetings will begin in the fall, which is also when the Diocese expects to identify two lay leaders from each county to work with the chaplains.
Pro-life activities will be planned throughout the Diocese, including Witness for Life/Mass for Life events in each county in March, which will replace the annual diocesan Mass and Witness for Life held for many years in Red Bank.
Ginther spoke of Father Noche, who is also the diocesan liaison for Respect Life Ministry and pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Hainesport, and his previous work with the parishes of coastal Monmouth County, which have a long history of collaborating on Respect Life Ministry. More recently, she said, Father Noche has helped parishes in Burlington County organize “action and support for one another.”
While Respect Life Ministry will be focused on the parish level, Ginther said there are a few tasks that will remain with various members of the diocesan staff, including from the Departments of Pastoral Care, Youth, Marriage and Family Life, Catechesis and Communications. Such projects include the scheduling of diocesan participation in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27 and coordinating the Respect Life Poster, Essay and Video Contest for elementary school and religious education students.
Reflecting on the new configuration of Respect Life outreach, Ginther was frank when she spoke of how “this approach spreads responsibility for championing Respect Life among the parishes of the Diocese and many different areas of diocesan ministry.”