By Jean Gonzalez - Florida Catholic - Orlando
ORLANDO | While the respect life umbrella covers many different issues, Joan Crown doesn't mince words when asked about the singular focus of this year's state Respect Life Conference.
"We started talking about the focus being on the unborn child over a year ago," said Crown, the archdiocesan director of Respect Life Ministry. "We felt the Lord was calling us in that direction."
The Miami Archdiocese plays host to the 31st annual conference to be held Oct. 20-21 at the Bonaventure Resort and Spa Conference Center in Weston.
Dr. Anthony Levatino
While many dioceses across the state support pregnancy care centers, Crown said the Miami Archdiocese is Florida's only diocesan entity that staffs and runs pregnancy help centers, five in total, which offer a clear sense of what can be lost physically, emotionally and mentally because of abortion.
The calling to focus on the unborn became more clear as news from Iceland reported that the country had almost eradicated children born with Down syndrome because of an increase in the abortion rate of fetuses that tested possible for the genetic anomaly.
"It confirmed our decision to highlight the unborn child more significantly. In the past 43 years, we are still trying to solve our social problems by turning to killing," Crown said, adding the dimension of also highlighting the unborn with a disability.
"Seeing the tragic story of Charlie Gard unfold, and how his parents' rights and desire for their child until the end were not respected, that also offered confirmation of the direction we chose for this year¹s conference."
The two-day event will explore the theme, "For the Least of Them." A highlight of Friday will be a tribute to the late Dr. Jerome Lejeune, a French pediatrician and geneticist credited with the discovery of the extra copy of chromosome 21 that leads to Down syndrome. A devout Catholic, Lejeune was also a vocal and longtime opponent of abortion and advocate for pro-life issues, which led Pope John Paul II to tap him to develop and lead the Pontifical Academy for Life.
His widow will be on hand for the tribute along with the president of the Jerome Lejeune Institute, which serves patients with trisomy 21 and other intellectual disorders of genetic origin and their families.
Alveda C. King
The planning committee is working closely with Sister Lidia Valli, executive director of the Marian Center, to showcase the work of the center that serves young people and adults with learning disabilities, including Down syndrome. The Marian Center bell choir will perform.
"Down syndrome people are disappearing. There are waiting lists for centers (like the Marian Center) for adults, but not waiting lists for young people," Crown said.
The second day of the conference will include speakers, such as Alveda C. King, director of civil rights for the unborn for Priests for Life, and Dr. Anthony Levatino, former Texas abortionist who will speak about his former career and his conversion to become a pro-life advocate. His keynote is titled, "Recognizing the Humanity of the Unborn Child."
Donna Gardner, executive director of Magdalene's Joy from the Palm Beach Diocese, will offer stories of post-abortion healing occurring in an unlikely place: men¹s prison.
Two panel discussions will discuss two critical issues: one on the fallout of reproductive technology and the other will be an end-of-life panel.
Angelique Ruhi Lopez and Carmen Santamaria, co-authors of "The Infertility Companion for Catholics," will offer the first panel with Father Alfred Cioffi, a priest of the Miami Archdiocese and a senior fellow of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Father Cioffi will head the second panel with Ingrid Delgado of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops and Dr. Sandra Rodríguez Dávila, geriatric psychiatrist and member of the Catholic Medical Association.
On Saturday there will be two opportunities for Mass, including a morning Mass celebrated by Bishop Felipe Estevez of St. Augustine and an afternoon vigil Mass celebrated by Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.
The cost of the conference is $90 or $100 at the door. For more information, visit www.respectlifemiami.org/2017-state-conference.html, call 954-981-2922 or email [email protected].
