‘Jeremiah’s Call’ Events: Father Pavone Speaks Nov. 24

By PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: November 13, 2003

ATLANTA—The Archdiocese of Atlanta is sponsoring “Give Thanks for Life,” with guest speaker Father Frank Pavone, founding director of Priests for Life, to benefit a pro-life advertising campaign in the Atlanta area.

The event, hosted by Archbishop John F. Donoghue, will be held Monday evening, Nov. 24, at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia Hotel, located at 4355 Ashford Dunwoody Road, near I-285.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a silent auction and light hors d’oeuvres. A dessert reception and the program will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dress is coat and tie. Admission is $35 per person, $60 for couples and $300 for tables of 10. Reservations should be made by Nov. 18. Proceeds will benefit the Georgia Right to Life Project REACH ad campaign.

In 2002 Archbishop Donoghue initiated “Jeremiah’s Call” to support the GRTL campaign. “Jeremiah’s Call” is coordinated by the archdiocesan Pro-Life Office. As Pope John Paul II exhorts persons in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”), “We need to bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society.”

The archbishop supports the GRTL ad campaign because it is a proven way of bringing the Gospel of life to those who most need to hear it, according to Mary Boyert, director of the Pro-Life Office. Statistics gathered on similar programs in other states show a reduction in the abortion rate and an increase in pro-life attitudes, she said.

Since the beginning of their media campaign in 2001, GRTL has tracked positive results, including a significant increase in women and men seeking help at pregnancy care centers whose phone numbers were linked to the ads. Results from polling taken at the mid-campaign point in 2003 show a 7 percent shift increase in pro-life opinion held by the target audience; one center reporting a 500 percent increase in calls and a 100 percent increase in actual client visits; a softening in attitudes of those who identify as pro-choice; and an intensity evidenced by 35 percent saying they “strongly agree” that the ad would make them more comfortable advising a friend to have a child rather than an abortion.

The 2002 “Jeremiah’s Call” in the archdiocese included a prayer team to surround the program; a grassroots campaign on the parish level; a partnership outreach with organizations including the Knights of Columbus, councils of Catholic women and Catholic schools; and a fund-raising dinner event. The 2002 campaign raised over $180,000 and reached thousands of Catholics in the archdiocese with the message of life.

Father Pavone, a priest of the New York Archdiocese, has been active in the pro-life movement since 1976. In 1993, with the permission of the late Cardinal John O’Connor, he became national director of Priests for Life and in this full-time position has traveled to all of the 50 states and to five continents, preaching and teaching against abortion and helping other priests to do the same. Under his guidance, the Priests for Life staff has grown to 45 full-time employees.

He conducts seminars on pro-life strategy, has produced television and radio programs, appeared on national broadcasts and his articles on pro-life issues are regularly published around the world. Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” of the Supreme Court’s abortion decision Roe vs. Wade, called Father Pavone “the catalyst that brought me into the Catholic Church.” In 1997 he was asked by the Vatican to help coordinate pro-life activities throughout the world as an official of the Pontifical Council for the Family. He serves on Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family Institute. In 2003, Father Pavone was elected president of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, a coalition of groups from many different denominations working to end abortion.

Donations to “Jeremiah’s Call” and for the “Give Thanks for Life” event should be made payable to Georgia Right to Life Educational Trust Fund (GRTL ETF) and sent to Jeremiah’s Call c/o Pro-Life Office, 680 West Peachtree St., NW, Atlanta, GA 30308. For information contact Mary Boyert at (404) 888-7821 or mboyert@archatl.com. A matching grant is available for all donations up to a total of $250,000. Donations are tax-deductible.