Despite the many differences between Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews, one thing that all can agree on is the sacredness of human life.

That was the primary message fostered by an interfaith gathering in honor of Respect Life Sunday in the chapel of Princeton University Oct. 3. The Diocese of Trenton’s Coadjutor Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., was among the featured speakers representing different faith traditions who were invited by Princeton professor and noted pro-life supporter Robert P. George to address the importance of protecting the sanctity of life at all stages.

Organized by campus student organization Princeton Pro-Life and co-sponsored by several campus religious groups, the 90-minute prayer service drew a packed crowd whose ages and religious affiliations covered a broad spectrum. Readings from the Muslim, Hindu and Mormon sacred texts were proclaimed by Princeton students and prominent religious leaders from around the country discussed pro-life issues from their own faith perspectives.

Noting that the Catholic Church is often labeled a “one issue church” that is focused solely on abortion, Bishop O’Connell said that to be pro-life is not merely a religious issue, but one that extends to every living person regardless of their religious affiliation.

“Abortion is a profoundly human issue that masquerades the truth of what it represents, that betrays our deepest human impulses under the false attraction of a so-called freedom of choice,” he said.

To respect life, Bishop O’Connell explained, is to show care and concern for all human life from the moment of conception to natural death, and covers such issues as euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, capital punishment and human trafficking.

“One does not have to be religious to share that care, that concern, that conviction,” he said. “One only needs to be human.”

Bishop O’Connell cited the Gospel’s portrayal of Christ’s mission to bring life to the world and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Respect Life Month theme, “The measure of love is to love without measure,” as examples of the Church’s positive approach to promoting life within a culture of death. Those who wish to defend life, he said, must overcome the cultural trend to measure things based on one’s own personal desires rather than love for others.

“The redemption and the salvation of our age, no matter what your faith tradition may be, no matter if you have a faith tradition, the salvation of our age lies in the freedom to love without measure,” Bishop O’Connell said, “and to let our Lord Jesus’ words to ring out as our own, ‘I have come that you may have life and may have it to the full.’”

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, an American Muslim scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, Calif., explained that the Muslim pro-life position stems from their belief that the spiritual life begins in the womb before natural birth. The belief in a spiritual life and the centrality of the spirit to the human condition, he said, are common beliefs among people of faith that are often overlooked by pro-choice advocates.

“Our society today is threatened,” said Yusuf. “We cannot recognize the sanctity of life without recognizing the sanctity of spiritual life, and that is something that all people of faith share.”

Pentecostal minister Rev. Eugene Rivers, pastor of Azusa Christian Community in Boston, Mass., echoed the importance of faith communities, regardless of their individual beliefs, coming together to take a stand for life.

“As people of faith, we are morally obligated to fight for the human rights of the unborn and to work in opposition to the violence which has afflicted upon the defenseless by the act of abortion,” he said. “We the people of faith must draw the line because we stand for truth, and for those of us who are Christians, we stand for truth and the Gospel of Jesus.”

While the Respect Life Sunday service has been an annual tradition at Princeton, this year’s gathering represented an increased effort to bring together well-known speakers in hopes of promoting a strong dialogue on campus, according to Princeton Pro-Life president Steven Lindsay.

“Being at an Ivy League university, you know you are going to be outnumbered in talking about either faith or about being pro-life,” Lindsay, a Catholic student in his third year at the university, told The Monitor. “We want to give students that kind of encouragement that was addressed by many of our speakers today, that there is a community and there are people that are going to be standing with you, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim – it doesn’t matter.”

Lindsay added that although his own pro-life stance is inspired by his Catholic faith, the campus organization aims to be purely secular by bringing the pro-life discussion outside of the religious context.

“By all means we want to include and have a conversation and discussion with as many faiths – or lack thereof – that we possibly can,” he said.