wfn.org | [OCA] Metropolitan Herman to Attend Right to Life Rally

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.org>]

MEDIA RELEASE / ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
PO Box 675
Syosset, New York 11791-0675

Contact: The Very Rev. John Matusiak
OCA Communications Director
630-668-3071
jjm@oca.org
www.oca.org

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ORTHODOX METROPOLITAN HERMAN TO ATTEND RIGHT TO LIFE RALLY

WASHINGTON, DC [OCA Communications] -- His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, 
Primate of the Orthodox Church in America and well-known spokesman for the 
sanctity of life, will once again join hundreds of Orthodox Christians at 
the annual March for Life here Monday, January 24, 2005.

On the eve of the march, Metropolitan Herman celebrated Vespers and a 
Service of Intercession at the OCA's Saint Nicholas Cathedral at 8:00 p.m. 
Orthodox Christian pro-lifers from across the nation are expected to be on 
hand for the two day gathering.

"Every year, the March is held to lament the US Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade 
decision of January 22, 1973 that legalized abortion on demand in the US," 
according to the Very Rev. John Matusiak, OCA communications director. 
"Metropolitan Herman has been a visible and vocal presence at the annual 
gathering for nearly two decades, leading hundreds of Orthodox Christians 
in prayerful witness to the sanctity of human life from its conception."

Metropolitan Herman is also expected to address the hundreds of thousands 
of marchers at the Elipse before they make their way down Constitution 
Avenue to the US Supreme Court building where an Orthodox Christian prayer 
service will be held.

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ARCHPASTORAL MESSAGE OF METROPOLITAN HERMAN FOR SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY / 
January 23, 2005

Dearly Beloved in the Lord:

For over three decades, hundreds of thousands of marchers have gathered 
annually in Washington, DC in mid-January to proclaim the sanctity of human 
life, to decry the tragedy of abortion, and to pray for its victims. Since 
the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision made abortion on demand the law of the land, 
millions of innocent children have died, their lives snuffed out while 
still in their mothers' wombs. There are those who have defended this 
practice on a variety of grounds, politicizing what is, in essence, a 
moral, ethical and spiritual issue. Endless debates as to whether the fetus 
is human life or merely "potential" human life, whether a woman has the 
"right" to determine what happens to "her body," and whether abortion is a 
humanitarian act or simply murder have, over the last three decades, 
polarized the citizens of the United States and have affected everything 
from political campaigns to interfaith dialogues and relations.

Abortion, together with the other issues which challenge the fact that all 
creation is a sacred gift from God, cannot be separated from stewardship - 
the wise management of that which is freely given to us, yet which does not 
belong to us. We recognize this principle - or, more appropriately, this 
reality - at every Divine Liturgy, as we proclaim, "Thine own of Thine own, 
we offer unto Thee, in behalf of all and for all." Of course, for those who 
deny God or who reject Him as "Maker of all things, visible and invisible," 
stewardship has no place in the ongoing debate. For those whose worldview 
eliminates the very need for a Creator or who see the universe's origins as 
a matter of chance or process, there is no "gift," for there is no "giver." 
Hence, there is nothing to steward, nothing to manage wisely. All that 
exists is simply "inherited" for our personal use, employed according to 
our individual wills and whims, and enjoyed or rejected according to our 
personal assessment of what is "good" for us. Accountability to God does 
not exist in this worldview; as such, any responsibility for life, for the 
environment, or for our time, talents, and treasures rests solely with the 
creature, not with the Creator.

As Orthodox Christians, our concern for proclaiming and protecting human 
life cannot be separated from our call to stewardship of all creation. 
Human life, like the air we breathe and the water we drink and the natural 
resources we rely upon daily, is not only a gift from the Creator, but the 
very crown of His creation. The fact that we have been created "in the 
image and likeness of God" in order to become "partakers of His divine 
nature" reveals the sacred nature of life and demands our unswerving 
commitment to be stewards of this most precious gift. But as Orthodox 
Christians it is insufficient to simply protest the evils of abortion, 
euthanasia, capital punishment, and other denials of life's sacred 
character. We must, above all, proclaim - and in many instances convince 
others of - the very presence of a loving Creator, without Whom life cannot 
be properly called a "sacred gift." We must struggle to share a worldview 
which sees all creation, including human life from conception to the moment 
of natural death, as something worth saving and worthy of glorifying its 
Creator. And we must strive to become truly wise stewards of all that we 
have been given. In other words, while witnessing to the evils of abortion, 
we must never forget the more important and fundamental task of witnessing 
to "the Giver of Life."

And so, brothers and sisters, abortion is indeed more than a political 
concern or a "contemporary social issue." It challenges the very foundation 
of our faith and the very nature of creation and its divine Creator. If the 
world is to hear and learn the truth, it must hear it from us, as people of 
faith. And if the world is to understand that all life - that all creation, 
in fact - is a sacred gift, it will only do so if we, as wise and faithful 
stewards, share the Good News which has been entrusted to us.

While praying for those millions of innocent children who have lost their 
lives through abortion, let us pray also that those who have yet to see the 
sanctity of life will be open to the Spirit of Truth and acknowledge the 
call to stewardship of "God's varied gifts," that in all things He alone 
might be glorified.

With love in Christ,

+ HERMAN
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

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