MANILA, June 3, 2013—Pope Francis is set to celebrate this June the dignity of life as part of the Year of Faith celebration.
The Pope will have his first real opportunity to speak on the sacredness of human life at the upcoming weekend celebration of Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life), set on June 15-16 by the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.
“Evangelium Vitae,” an encyclical on the Gospel of Life issued on March 25, 1995 by Blessed Pope John Paul II expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding the value and inviolability of human life.
Among the events in Rome that weekend will be an educational conference dubbed “The Gospel of Life and the New Evangelization” to be held at the Pontificia Università Urbaniana. The Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke will deliver the Keynote Address. The “Holy Hour for Life: Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction” will follow at the Santo Spirito in Sassia Church to be celebrated by His Excellency Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., Vice-President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.
The events are meant to provide the faithful the chance to gather with the Holy Father to affirm and celebrate the dignity of human life. The weekend concludes with a Papal Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday morning, June 16. (CBCP for Life)
