Respect Life

When is Respect Life Month, and what is the theme?

Respect Life Month is observed annually in October. Each year a new theme is featured October– September.

Where can I find resources for Respect Life Month?

Resources can be found on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities https://www.respectlife.org/.  The Respect Life Program resources are available and include prayers for life, articles, action guides, action alerts to contact Congress and government leaders, service opportunities and more.

Where can I preview the materials before ordering?

Visit the Respect Life page, scroll through the page, and click what you’d like to preview

What is the Respect Life Program?

New Materials are produced each year to help Catholics understand, value, and become engaged with supporting the God-given dignity of every person—which naturally leads to protecting the gift of every person’s life.

Who are the materials for?

The materials are developed especially for use in parishes, schools, and faith-based ministries, but can also be used by other groups or individuals. Whether you’re simply taking a personal interest or you’re serving in a parish, Catholic education, faith formation, communications, pro-life, youth/young adult, or campus ministry—there’s something for you!

How do I use these materials?

The Respect Life Program materials are intended to help leaders integrate respect for human life into their respective work and/or ministries. So, talk with people in other areas of service, and brainstorm how you can help each other build a culture of life!  Also, action guides and customized suggestions are provided throughout the resource guide and online, but anyone is welcome to build off or adapt what is offered.

When do I use these materials?

The annual cycle of the Respect Life Program runs from Respect Life Sunday (the first Sunday of October) through the following September. Specific dates are sometimes provided, but any of the materials can be used at any time—after all, we cherish God’s gift of life year-round!

May I reproduce text from the Respect Life Program?

The text of the Respect Life Program materials may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration or change without further permission, provided such reprints are distributed without charge and include the following notice:  Reprinted (excerpted) from Respect Life Program, copyright © [year of original publication], United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.  Reprinting guidelines.

Where can I find text that can be reproduced?

The Respect Life Program media kit contains Microsoft Word files in English and Spanish for the Respect Life Month’s Reflection, and 10 Respect Life articles published in previous years. These may be reproduced without further permission, provided the guidelines for reproducing text are followed. Bulletin insert versions of the reflection and articles can also be reprinted without further permission, provided the guidelines for reproducing PDFs are followed.

Are the materials free?

You can order print versions of the Respect Life Program materials from the USCCB Store, or download them for free from the Image gallery! Additional, online-only resources like bulletin inserts and Respect Life images can also be found on the same page.

All content used with permission from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C.