IN SUPPORT OF LIFE: A SUMMARY

A Strategic Plan of the Roman Catholic Church in MassachusettsBringing the Gospel of Life into the Debate on Assisted Suicide and End of Life Issues

(SEE LINK TO RESOURCES AT BOTTOM OF PAGE)

In Support of Life is an unprecedented initiative of the Roman Catholic Church in Massachusetts. The strategic plan calls for collaboration between the four Dioceses and among the various Catholic agencies, institutions, and parishes within each Diocese. The compassionate and competent care of persons at the end of life serves as the Church's immediate objective.

• For the first time ever, interdisciplinary task forces at the state-wide and diocesan levels will pursue an array of goals in the areas of pastoral care, education, communication, and public policy.

• The Massachusetts Catholic Conference (MCC), the public policy office for the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth, will assume an enhanced role as state-wide facilitator for the Plan.

• MCC staff Maria C. Parker, M.B.A., Project Director, and Daniel Avila, Esq., Associate Director of Public Policy, will work under the guidance of MCC Executive Director Gerry D'Avolio, Esq.

• The Plan serves as a model for future Church initiatives in public policy and communication of Church teaching.

The Plan grew out of the work of a special committee convened by the MCC in early 1997 to oppose a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide filed in the state legislature. Realizing the need for a long-range program based on Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium Vitae, the Massachusetts Bishops requested the MCC to produce a strategic plan. In September 1997, the Massachusetts Bishops approved In Support of Life, drafted with the help of numerous individuals from all four Massachusetts Dioceses.

--from In Support of Life: Bringing the Gospel of Life Into the Debate on Physician Assisted Suicide and End of Life Issues