Sanctity of life workshop covers myriad of issues

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Jean Hill, Diocese of Salt Lake City government liaison, speaks about the current legislative session to participants of the Jan. 27 Sanctity of Life workshop.

SALT LAKE CITY — Happiness, refugees and bills being considered during the 2018 Utah Legislature may seem disparate topics, but all three fit nicely under the heading of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life, as shown by the speakers at the Jan. 27 workshop sponsored by the Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Marriage and Family Life.

Opening the session, Bishop Oscar A. Solis noted that life must be seen as holy and sacred, to be “nourished and protected from the moment of conception until natural death, and through all its stages and in all its forms.”

Today’s society offers myriad threats to the sanctity of life, and he challenged those present to become “architects of justice” and work to guard human dignity.

The Catholic view of happiness is that it is life forever with God in heaven, said Fr. Christopher Gray, parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

To do this, people must be reconciled with Christ, which they cannot do on their own but must rely on sanctifying grace, he said. However, people can follow Jesus’ instructions on how to gain eternal life, to keep the commandments, sell what they have, give the money to the poor, and then follow him, Fr. Gray said.

The goal of life is happiness, which is life together with God for in heaven forever, Fr. Gray said, and “anything that takes you away from that takes away your happiness.”

In his presentation, Aden Batar, director of Immigration and Refugee Resettlement for Catholic Community Services of Utah, spoke of the work CCS does with refugees. These days there are 65 million displaced people, the largest number since World War II. More than half of them are children. Many of the people live in refugee camps, without access to basics such as running water.

For the past 40 years CCS has helped refugees adjust to life in the United States, but the current federal administration has reduced the number of refugees allowed into the country and placed other barriers to their acceptance. Batar urged those at the workshop to contact their congressional representative and “let them know that … we want to welcome refugees.  This is part of our values. We welcome other people that are oppressed, people that don’t have anywhere else to go.”

The last speaker at the workshop was Jean Hill, the Diocese of Salt Lake City government liaison, who gave a brief view of some proposed legislation that “affects the mission of the Church, and the mission of the Church is to serve people in need,” she said.

Among the proposed legislation is a bill that would amend the definition of manslaughter to include intentionally and knowingly providing another with the physical means to commit suicide. The expansion of Medicare also is on the agenda.

“It’s not just about food, shelter and water for us. It’s about a life of dignity, not just sustaining life at a minimal level,” Hill said.

Like Batar, she urged those at the workshop to contact their legislators to let them know what issues are of concern to those interested in social justice.