Fr. David Poecking: Pro-Life Together

By Fr. David Poecking, The Human Life Review

Fr. David Poecking is the pastor of Archangel Gabriel Parish in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

At its core, the pro-life movement is about extending the protection of the law to unborn children. But prolifers should still care about winning over the hearts and minds of those who don’t share this commitment, not least because broad sympathy for the pro-life cause will help us advance and sustain pro-life laws.

A new initiative in the Catholic Church may hold lessons for prolifers in how to win over hearts and minds. This week, Catholic bishops around the world are beginning their preparation for the 2023 international Synod of Bishops entitled “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” Thus, its nickname: the “synod on synodality.”

The central notion of synodality is that what we do as a Church, we do together. That is:

• Communion, not Sectarianism: People with unresponsive pastors (or priests with unresponsive bishops) can’t just go their own way. Somehow, we must learn to work with each other and not apart from or against each other. …

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