Contact: Leslie Palma, Priests for Life, 347-286-7277

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., April 19, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, issued the following comment today on the Vatican's assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR):

"As a pro-life ministry dedicated to fully activating the Church to end abortion and euthanasia, Priests for Life is grateful to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the assessment it has issued of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and in particular for pointing out the problem of silence regarding abortion and the right to life."
 
Following a two-year investigation into the LCWR, the Vatican concluded, in part, that, "while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the church's social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death."

Responding to that finding, Father Pavone said, "Priests for Life has the highest regard for the women religious in the Church and the consecration they have made to God of their lives. We want to work side by side with them and support them in the pro-life dimensions of their life and ministry. We therefore encourage the LCWR and all its members to make the right to life a clear and constant aspect of the message they proclaim to the world."

Father Pavone concluded: "As we have often pointed out, the very act of consecrating one's life to God strikes at the heart of the culture of death. While the culture of death proclaims, 'I have the right to choose,' the religious life proclaims, 'My life and choices belong to God, and there is where I find true freedom.'"

To read the statement from the Vatican, go to
www.priestsforlife.org/CDF-LCWR-Assessment.pdf

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.