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The Evangelium Vitae Medal is given by the University of Notre Dame to champions of the pro-life movement. The announcement Oct. 6 during Respect Life Month that the recipient of this cherished award would be Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel and executive director of the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, is deserving of applause from the entire pro-life movement.

Just as the month of October dawned and the Church’s celebration of Respect Life Month began disturbing events showing the absolute lack of respect for life surfaced in the news. In Mexico, amid a dem­on­stration urging the legalization of abortion, activists tried to set fire to the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. In response to the arson attempt, Catholics gathered before the front doors of the cathedral to protect it until firefighters got there and acted quickly to prevent the fire from spreading, and police acted to prevent further acts of aggression by the abortion rights activists.

For Catholics, October begins the celebration of Respect Life Month underscoring the Catholic Church’s teaching that every human life is precious and worthy of protection. In our nation, those in the womb are the most in danger because of unrestricted abortion laws in many states, including New Jersey, which fully funds Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Whenever we cast our ballot, we have always been told our vote counts. However, voting in a public poll conducted by “She Built NYC,” a public arts program established to create more statues of women around the city of New York, under the patronage of Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, was an utter sham.

Over the last few decades, the news media has gone through numerous changes in the way it presents the news. None of us knows how the news media will evolve in future years in disseminating the news, but according to Pope Francis, it will have no future if reporters and the public cannot distinguish between facts and fiction.

Who doesn’t like to go to a concert to hear and see their favorite singers and musicians? Most of us enjoy going to concerts, no matter what our age or taste in music. But when these musicians and singers use their platforms as stars to take a side on a moral issue that results in the killing of an innocent child in the womb, it is time for us to draw a line in the sand and not support them.

The Department of Labor is considering a new rule that would allow federal contractors who identify as religious to hire employees based on faith and religious practice. The new policy would expand an executive order by President Lyndon Johnson protecting the rights of religious employers with federal government contracts to hire from within their religious group.

A memorial Mass for Maryknoll Father Vincent R. Capodanno, U.S. Navy Chaplain, will be celebrated Sept. 4 in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C. on the 52nd anniversary of his death on a battlefield in Vietnam. We highlight this yearly memorial Mass because it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the heroic life of this priest. His story is one that should never be forgotten.

For their work for championing the pro-life cause above all in their lives, three people — Cheryl Holley, Marian Desrosiers and Chuck Donovan — were honored Aug. 5 at the 2019 People of Life awards for their contributions.

The U.S. State Department’s newly released annual report on international religious freedom shows continued attacks and abuse by governments and societies against religious minorities, including Catholics, in many countries. Among the countries cited was Nigeria where “terrorist organizations Boko Haram and Islamic State-West Africa continued to attack population centers and religious targets.”

In 2009, President Barack Obama issued an executive order that allowed for federally-funded research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) using embryonic stem cells. Catholic teaching respects the dignity and the equal moral worth of every human person. This view has consistently rejected research that destroys the life of some in order enhance the life of others.

The recent news in our state of three abandoned babies in a six-day period — two newborns and an infant — point to the urgency of getting the message out to every resident of the state that New Jersey has had a safe haven law in place since 2000.

Leaders of pro-life groups were among those invited to a White House social media summit July 11, amid claims of online censorship by search engines and social media sites. Scant coverage was given to their concerns in the secular media as they were lumped together with more than 200 attendees as “far-right social media provocateurs.”

A ruling late last month by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on new Title X rules is a boon to the pro-life movement in America. The new rules prohibit funds from going to clinics that perform abortions or provide abortion referrals, and with the court ruling, it means that they can now go into effect.

An important part of our state’s heritage is the historic buildings that dot the landscape of our state. Among them are many that mark the long history of our faith. Indeed, many of our churches are listed on the state and national historic registries.

As we celebrate the 243rd birthday of our nation today on July 4, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how our Founding Fathers placed their full trust in God. Their strong moral and spiritual convictions helped them to form the foundation of our great nation.

Thanks to the efforts of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and other Republican members of the House of Representatives, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced earlier this month that it will discontinue funding for research that uses the body parts of aborted babies by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It will also apply a rigorous ethical review process to outside research it funds. Prior to this announcement, the NIH was estimated to spend $120 million on fetal tissue research in fiscal year 2019.

More often than not, commencement speakers give graduates advice based on the speaker’s life experiences and what they can do with that newly-minted diploma as they enter the business world. But what about giving graduates advice about their faith as they step into the secular world?

Challenges to religious freedom continue to emerge on an almost daily basis in our nation. That’s why it is so important for the U.S. Catholic Church to remain resolute in addressing them. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in his address to U.S. bishops in 2012, warned them of “Grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism” where there were “certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”

The composting of human remains is now legal in the state of Washington. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed legislation into law last week allowing the practice of “aboveground decomposition,” making Washington the first state in the nation to allow human remains to become compost. It takes effect in May 2020.