Alumni Says Conference Promotes Life

 

Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe
40 Foley Square
New York, New York 10007
646.584.2696

October 19, 2007

Michael C. McFarland, S.J.
President
College of the Holy Cross
1 College Street
Worcester, Massachusetts 01610

Dear Fr. McFarland:

We Catholics educated in the Jesuit tradition to be "Men and Women for Others"
are trained to live lives of faith in the world. We choose this life, in part, because we believe in the action of the Holy Spirit in the world. Commitment to our faith community, prayerful discernment and trust in God counter the perils that abound in the world.

This prelude places in context the College's decision to host - not for the first time -
the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. I'd like to think that workshops on topics such as teen sexual behavior, teen domestic violence and teen parenthood will be infused with the Holy Spirit simply by virtue of taking place on Mt. St. James. If one participant gleans new understanding of life's sanctity, before and after birth, while gazing at our buildings and sculpture we will have advanced Catholic teaching.

My three adolescent daughters well know our family's commitment to life. And, I know from them that simple didactic positions, absent positive outreach, foreclose all possibility of fostering new understanding, not only with regard to abortion but also with regard to war, poverty, famine, and systemic social injustice - just to name a few other manifestations of evil in the world.

On October 24th, please be assured of my special prayers for the success of the program, in the broadest Catholic sense. And, also know that the life of Holy Cross in the world - Lifting High the Cross - is always in my prayers.

Most respectfully,

 

Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, '77