The Diocese of Columbus is doubling down on its respect life efforts through the creation of its own Respect Life Office.
After Ohioans voted in favor of a constitutional amendment protecting abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy in last November’s election, the diocese is strengthening its commitment to protecting and supporting life at all stages.
The office was created in July. Father Bob Penhallurick, the pastor at Columbus St. Catharine of Siena Church, is leading the diocese’s efforts by serving as the office’s director.
After last November’s vote, Bishop Earl Fernandes invited respect life leaders from organizations around the diocese to a summit the following March. The bishop encouraged the pro-life leaders and shared with them the importance of working together to continue building a culture of life.
In response to the defeat at the polls, Bishop Fernandes also announced the establishment of a diocesan respect life office, Father Penhallurick said.
“We need to reenvisage what it means to live a culture of life and how do we support community organizations and people in the pews, to do that in a way that shines a spotlight of great beauty, so that, instead of us being seen, by the non-Catholics and general population, as being against something, helping them to realize that actually what we’re for is far more important,” he said.
The new Respect Life Office will work with respect life leaders as well as coordinators and pastors in parishes to build a culture of life.
Father Penhallurick shared that it is important to change the negative mindset surrounding the right to life. He recognized that the opposition is not limited to the secular public, as many Catholics do not support the right or see it in a positive light.
“We know that there are many Catholics who voted for that constitutional amendment,” he said. “Our preference obviously would have been that they voted against, and one of the things I think we have to really do is to communicate in a better way the vision that we have of what is life, the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death.”
Moving forward as director of the office, Father Penhallurick is spearheading efforts to help all persons see and support the beauty of life.
He is currently looking ahead to the national March for Life in January. He said the bishop will celebrate several Masses in Washington and “wants to gather the Diocese of Columbus around him.”
Earlier this month, which the Church recognizes as Respect Life Month, faithful across the state gathered for the annual Respect Life Mass and Ohio March for Life in Columbus.
Additional right-to-life initiatives continue in October that include the 40 Days for Life campaign, which is taking place throughout Ohio, and runs from Sept. 25 to Nov. 3. Diocesan parishes are participating by arranging a day or time to pray in front of a local abortion clinic.
In November, Father Penhallurick said, the Respect Life Office will focus on palliative care and hospice. He said hospice can do great things for people at the end of life.
“We have to remember, it’s not just the beginning of life issues that are important, although they are fundamental,” he said. “We also have to care for people during their life: the disabled, the poor, the marginalized, the infirm and also those who are at the end of life, to give them the dignity across that spectrum that they deserve – and they should be given in all cases.”
Father Penhallurick will also work with diocesan parishes on building a culture of life. He said each parish has a respect life coordinator or committee.
“My hope is that, toward the beginning of next year, I can start to go out to the deaneries or to areas and actually try and gather those people together to offer them a time of spiritual strengthening and healing, to listen to them and to hear what their concerns and their needs are,” he said.
Father Penhallurick said he wants to develop a “robust” office that serves the people of the diocese well.
He will work with nearby respect life organizations that have shared values, including centers for women and pregnancy care and also Mother Angeline McCrory Manor on Columbus’ east side that serves the infirm with nursing and rehabilitation care.
He said the diocese wants to work with such organizations while not “taking over” their programming. He said the office will offer support and “shine the spotlight on what they’re doing.”
With a background in bioethics and healthcare, Father Penhallurick, who is originally from England, has studied issues surrounding life.
While in seminary, he concentrated in bioethics and healthcare for his master’s degree in theology. His thesis focused on the freezing and unfreezing of human embryos, he said, and the moral issues related to that.
“I’ve always had a real interest around moral theology, but particularly, moral issues to do with life, both the beginning of life and the end of life, and all the way in between,” he said.
In 2013, he completed a certification course from the National Catholic Bioethics Center near Philadelphia. The center was established to uphold the dignity of the human person by providing education, guidance and resources.
With his background and knowledge, Father Penhallurick has been a resource to local offices and clergy. He said he is sometimes contacted by diocesan offices or priests seeking advice on an end-of-life question. He said there are many concerns surrounding such issues.
Father Penhallurick also serves as chaplain to the local guild of the Catholic Medical Association. He began in that role about 11 years ago.
While he does not claim to be able to answer every question about right to life issues, he wants to remind people to remain focused on God.
“We don’t always have the answer that we want, especially from the world,” he said. “From our secular culture, we certainly have to fight for life.
“There’s a passage in Scripture that talks about not placing our trust in princes, and I think we have to be careful not to place our hope always in the things of this world. We have to be focused on eternity and life with God forever, and just by being focused on that, becoming the light that shines on the hilltop, that draws people to it and helps a real culture of life grow in people’s hearts.”