The Catholic Church has a long history of supporting moms and their families in making life-affirming decisions about pregnancies. Our amazing networks of social ministries provide opportunities to reach out to pregnant women and to provide them with support they need to choose life.
With the good news of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade, the opportunity for the Church to stand with and support women and families struggling with pregnancy decisions has grown considerably.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched the Walking with Moms in Need (WWMIN) initiative in early 2020. Within weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic largely waylaid the process. Now, with the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, this amazing program needs our rededicated efforts.
With WWMIN, we are called to “walk in the shoes” of local mothers. That means offering direct assistance or cataloging and directing them to services to help them through pregnancies and into their children’s toddler years. For the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, that involvement includes spiritual, emotional, material and financial support.
Currently, 17 parishes are assessing their local community resources. I created a draft survey for central Ohio to serve as a template to aid in this process. Our goal is for parishes/deaneries to create and distribute detailed lists of available resources. These assessments can change as more resources are confirmed.
The bishops launched WWMIN by asserting that “everyone should know how to help moms in difficult circumstances. … While not trying to turn Catholic parishes into pregnancy centers, we can support local pregnancy centers where they exist, and we can also find and share other resources with pregnant and parenting women. … And where there are few local resources, we can create our own, based on the gifts of the parish community.”
A key step in the assessment is identifying what is missing. It’s important to know that WWMIN is not a one-time approach but provides opportunities to walk with women during their pregnancies and as moms.
There are social service/pregnancy support agencies that can help families find essential goods such as diapers, formula and cribs; housing and material support such as rent, utility payments and food; services for mental and spiritual health; and medical care.
As Church members, accompanying moms throughout their pregnancies must be our priority. However, we cannot stop there. We also must provide services for the moms and their families such as child care, baby formula, possible adoption planning, housing and more. Whatever the need, we must walk with our families and help them find needed resources.
When women face planned or unplanned pregnancies, it isn’t simple or easy. It can be hard and complex. We want women to feel respected, loved and supported.
This parish-based ministry helps open the eyes of parishioners to needs of pregnant and parenting moms in their local communities. It enables us to know these mothers, to listen to them and, along the way, to help them obtain the necessities of life for themselves and their families. WWMIN is another way parishes can respond to Pope Francis’ challenge to be “islands of mercy in a sea of indifference.”
On the 25th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, Pope Francis reminded Catholics that “every human life, unique and unrepeatable, has value in and of itself; it is of inestimable value. This must always be proclaimed anew with the courage of the Word and the courage of actions. It calls us to solidarity and fraternal love for the great human family and for each of its members.”
In our diocese, the Knights of Columbus have strongly supported our pro-life and respect life efforts by providing funds for new ultrasound machines.
“Now is the time to begin the work of building a post-Roe America. It is a time for healing wounds and repairing social divisions; it is a time for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love.” (Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president, USCCB, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman, USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, June 24, 2022)
Now, more than ever, we must support a culture of life. We want to help moms flourish as mothers and wives. If moms are strong, happy and supported, then children and families will be, too.
For more information or to help involve your parish in the WWMIN initiative, contact me, the diocesan coordinator, at socmailbox@columbuscatholic.org.