Dear Editor,
On March 25, 1995 (Feast of the Annunciation), the late St. Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical titled “Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)”. In the encyclical, Pope John Paul II wrote, “To claim the right to abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute a human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others, and against others.”
The Pontiff warned about a “culture of death” that could lead to other forms of violence. Just four years after the publication of Evangelium Vitae, was the Columbine school shooting that took place on April 20, 1999, resulting in the deaths of 13 students and one teacher. The most recent school shooting took place on October 15 at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon that resulted in the deaths of three children ages five, eight, and eleven. A teacher was also killed along with the alleged shooter.
When we devalue life in the womb, it’s no great surprise how little we value life outside the womb. Watch the daily news and the various programs on television that glorifies gun violence and you see how little we regard the sacredness of human life.
Patrick Hardyman Blanchardville, WI