special issue:
PLEASE HELP US HONOR A GREAT PRO-LIFE LEADER: On October 2, one of the great pro-life bishops of our times will be celebrating his 75th birthday. This is very significant because, under the rules of the Catholic Church, when a bishop reaches the age of 75, he is required to submit his resignation to the Vatican. Although the Vatican can allow him to continue in his present position for a year or so, it may also accept the resignation.
The pro-life bishop is Bishop John Yanta of the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas.
For those not familiar with Bishop Yanta, he was already involved in the pro-life movement while working as a parish priest in San Antonio, Texas. He was arrested while demonstrating at an abortion facility. When he became an auxiliary bishop of San Antonio and had to design a crest, he incorporated the “precious feet” as an element in his crest. Later, when he became bishop of Amarillo, he found that he had 19 Planned Parenthood clinics operating in his diocese and set a goal of closing them all down. At the present time, 17 of the 19 clinics have closed.
Bishop Yanta has had a direct relationship with American Life League ? speaking at our conferences and serving, for a time, on our board of advisors.
In December 2005, Bishop Yanta provided a home to a new order of priests, founded by Fr. Frank Pavone, which focuses on pro-life work in the Catholic Church. He did this by issuing a decree which reads, in part, “I hereby erect the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life as a diocesan right clerical society of apostolic life, thereby granting them the right, officially and in the name of the Church, to pursue their apostolic purpose of building the Culture of Life by fighting against abortion, euthanasia and all other attacks on the sanctity and dignity of human life.”
As this great pro-life leader may be nearing the end of his service to the Church as bishop, it is fitting that we honor his tireless efforts on behalf of the preborn.
SPIRITUAL BOUQUET: There is a tradition within the Church of giving spiritual bouquets. These are basically lists of prayers, sacrifices or other devotional acts that have been, or will be, offered for the specific intention of the individual or his intentions.
On October 2, we would like to deliver to Bishop Yanta a spiritual bouquet card that reads, “On the occasion of your 75th birthday, we present to you this spiritual bouquet from people all over the United States and the world in recognition of your steadfast defense of the preborn babies.”
The card would then list the number of rosaries, individual prayers, Masses, sacrifices and other devotional acts that you have offered or will offer for the bishop’s intentions.
To participate in this tribute to this great pro-life bishop, you will need to do the following:
- As an individual, you can decide what prayers or other acts you will perform for the bishop’s intentions and then send us an e-mail or a card listing what you will do.
- As a group, you can get members of your club or other group to pledge certain prayers or sacrifices. Collect them all together and send us an e-mail or card telling us what your group is doing.
- Then, you and/or your group will need to perform the acts you have pledged.
That’s it. We will collect the entire list of prayers and acts and deliver the list to Bishop Yanta on October 2.
You should send your e-mails and cards as soon as possible. You can e-mail ?subject=Bishop Yanta”>Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, or you can send your cards to: Jim Sedlak, American Life League, P.O. Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22555.
All e-mails and cards should reach us by September 15 so we have time to collect everything and prepare the presentation.
Please feel free to forward this notice to any group or individual you feel will be interested. This spiritual bouquet is not just for Catholics. Many people of faith offer prayers to God for the intentions of others.
Thank you for helping to honor this great pro-life leader.