Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

In March, the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life released a pastoral framework titled “Life is Always Good: Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life.” The document aims to help dioceses begin a synodal process focused on strengthening and promoting pastoral care for human life. Its publication coincided with the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” which addresses the dignity of human life.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has highlighted several practical recommendations from this framework for parish respect life ministries. These include making dynamic personal invitations to increase ministry involvement and collaborating across different parish ministries to promote pro-life values.

Stuart Hamilton, pro-life events coordinator for the Archdiocese of Louisville, emphasized that personal encounters are essential in pro-life ministry. He stated that while organizing collections such as diaper drives is important, facilitating direct experiences—especially for youth—is equally necessary. Hamilton explained that hands-on projects with individuals who have disabilities can transform perceptions by fostering relationships rather than focusing solely on diagnoses.

Hamilton shared examples from his own experience, including volunteering at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral’s youth ministry workday to assist elderly and disabled shut-ins, carving pumpkins with clients at Dreams with Wings for their annual event at Bellarmine University, and delivering handmade blankets to residents at Nazareth Home through Bethlehem High School’s respect life club. He also recounted hearing Sister Helen Prejean’s testimony about her work with death row inmates while he was at Bellarmine University.

Other activities mentioned by Hamilton included supporting after-school programs for children from low-income families in Marion County, serving the working poor through Bardstown St. Vincent de Paul ministry’s grocery store, providing food and drink to homeless individuals alongside St. Martin of Tours parishioners, praying outside abortion centers with Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, organizing donation closets for pregnancy resource centers during college, and serving on the board of Little Way Pregnancy Center.

“These experiences and dozens like them were, for me, an incarnational reality of the church’s teaching. They forced me to encounter, first hand, the dignity of the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, the migrant, the poor, the homeless and those racked with addiction,” said Hamilton.

He further noted: “Personal experiences drive the development of empathy. The earlier we have these experiences, the greater the impact. The more consistently we have these experiences, the more the dignity of every human life is reinforced holistically as part of our worldview.”

Hamilton concluded by recommending that respect life ministries provide regular opportunities throughout each year for such challenging encounters. He suggested combining these efforts with personal invitations and collaboration between parish ministries as an effective approach to spreading pro-life values.

“Every respect life ministry should sprinkle opportunities for these challenging experiences throughout the year. Combined with personal invitation and collaboration with other parish ministries, this is a winning formula for spreading the Gospel of life effectively,” he said.

Stuart Hamilton serves as pro-life events coordinator within Louisville's archdiocesan structure.