Bishop Earl Fernandes will celebrate the Diocese of Columbus’ annual Respect Life Mass on Monday, Jan. 23 at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral.
The Mass traditionally has been celebrated on Jan. 22, the date in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide, but this year that date is on a Sunday.
This past June 24, the same court in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling returned decision-making power regarding abortion to each of the states, so the focus of the Mass and the Roe Remembrance event which will follow it will be different this year.
The Mass will be streamed on St. Gabriel Radio (820 AM in central Ohio, 88.3 FM in southern Ohio) and livestreamed on the diocesan YouTube channel.
At 12:05 p.m. on Jan. 22, Greater Columbus Right to Life (GCRTL) will sponsor the annual Roe Remembrance in the Ohio Statehouse Atrium. The program will last approximately one hour. The speaker lineup will be announced closer to the program date. Participants are being asked to bring a package of diapers, wipes or another new item appropriate for an infant. The items will be provided to mothers and families in need.
GCRTL said those who wish to attend the event are being asked for the first time to register in advance by visiting gcrtl.org/roe or calling the GCRTL office at (614) 445-8508. Limited onsite registration will be available, but registration in advance will considerably speed up the process.
“It is less convenient to sign up in advance, but given past experiences, the fact that this is the first Roe Remembrance since the Dobbs decision, the tactics of abortion advocates targeting pro-life people and events, and the profile of some of our speakers, we have been in consultation with the Statehouse and the Ohio State Highway Patrol to make sure that we can maintain this event as a dignified and safe event for all,” Greater Columbus Right to Life executive director Beth Vanderkooi said.
“This ensures that if anyone disrupts our event, they can be removed and, if appropriate, prosecuted. We are in a unique moment in American and Ohio history. Abortion advocates have announced their plans to amend Ohio’s Constitution to guarantee unlimited abortion in Ohio. We can and will stop it, but we are going to need to show up and be unified like never before.”
ODU awarded grant for STEMM-related scholarships
The state of Ohio has awarded Ohio Dominican University (ODU) a $588.000 grant to support students and strengthen the state’s workforce development in fields related to STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine).
The five-year Choose Ohio First grant will provide scholarship assistance to ODU students who are studying in its computer science, data science, cyber security, biology, biopsychology, chemistry, environmental science and exercise science programs.
ODU is one of 45 colleges and universities across the state that will collectively receive more than $28 million in the next five years to support approximately 3,400 students. During the past four years, Ohio has committed more than $161 million to STEM and STEM education scholarships.
FOCUS to celebrate anniversary live, online
FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students) will kick off its 25th anniversary celebration at SEEK23: You Are Called, an event expected to attract more than 15,000 people – half of them college students – to the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis from Monday to Friday, Jan. 2 to 6. Among those in attendance will be Columbus Bishop Earl Fernandes.
Those unable to attend in person will be able to view the conference online. More information on the conference‘s livestream program is available at https://seek.focus.org/join-us/registration-information/where-you-are.
Ben Rector, an Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter and instrumentalist, will be the conference’s featured entertainer. Keynote speakers include Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York; Father Mike Schmitz, host of the Bible in a Year podcast; and FOCUS founders Curtis Martin and Dr. Edward Sri.
Distance university to offer life issues course
Catholic Distance University (CDU) is offering a weekly course on Respect for Life, Sex and Parenting: An Integrated Catholic Approach, from Monday, Jan. 30 to Sunday, Feb. 26.
The one-credit graduate course will be taught by Helen Alvare, associate dean for academic affairs at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia.
The course will explore the Catholic Church’s teachings on sex, marriage and parenting as part of Catholic social justice so that students can communicate these more effectively in ways responsive to contemporary culture’s values, skepticism and sometimes hostility.
Students will learn to explain the faith and reason informing the Church’s teachings on sex, marriage and parenting; to discuss the relationship between Catholic sex, marriage and parenting teachings and the “architecture of the faith,” specifically God’s identity, how He loves us, and how He wants us to love Him and one another; to describe the unity of Catholic teachings about sex, marriage, parenting and social justice; and to articulate and effectively respond to contemporary secular objections to Catholic teachings on sexual expression.
Enrollment is underway for this course and others offered by CDU in the Winter I and II terms. CDU offers 100 percent online programs in Catholic theology at the graduate and undergraduate levels and an associate degree in Liberal Arts. Learn more at cdu.edu or by contacting admissions@cdu.edu or calling (888) 254-4CDU.