MERRILLVILLE – Catholics working to advance the culture of life in the Diocese of Gary met on April 13 to share ideas, successes and challenges at a semi-annual Diocesan Prolife Meeting at the Pastoral Center.
“We recently got our first call and were able to help a pregnant mother,” said Jo Brown, a member of the Walking with Moms in Need Ministry at St. Michael in Schererville. “We haven’t been able to place our signs outside yet, but she saw the sign in our Gathering Place and called. We were able to offer her diapers, baby wipes and other supplies, but we don’t have furniture, so we referred her to the Women’s Care Center; she already had an appointment there the next day, so I’m sure they were able to help her, too.”
Brown said her group also works together with the Good Samaritans ministry at St. Michael to provide food to mothers in need.
Meeting facilitator Madeline Graal, of St. John the Evangelist, in St. John, shared that during the Lent, one of her parish’s almsgiving options was selecting items on Amazon to donate to specific families. “Donors could just click on a requested item and it went right to the registered mom, which made it very convenient,” Graal explained.
Clark Gloyeske, of St. Patrick, in Chesterton, said he has been working to distribute postcards explaining the availability of Walking with Mothers in Need resources to area food banks. “The postcards can be placed in the bags of food as another way to get the word out,” he said. “There is a lot of information on the WWMIN website, and each month they focus on a different diocese and their efforts.”
Richard Stith, who works with Pat Tuttle of the prolife ministry at St. Paul in Valparaiso, said advocates “shouldn’t be bashful about putting out these cards; ask a business, a church and other organizations to post them.” Stith pointed out that the postcards do not offer any political message, but offer help to people in need.
Tuttle also hands out the “My Guide” resource booklets available throughout the diocese during Witness for Life street ministry sessions on Tuesdays outside the Valparaiso Courthouse. “This shows that we care about people with all kinds of needs,” Stith said.
In addition to the Witness for Life advocacy from noon to 1 p.m. each Tuesday at the corner of Washington Street and Lincolnway in Valparaiso, other prolife activities in the Diocese of Gary include the Second Saturday Family Rosary for Life at rotating parishes (contact Mark at 847-630-5990), outreach outside Planned Parenthood in Merrillville from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays (contact Pat at 242-1707) and from 10 a.m. to noon every other Wednesday (contact Angela at (312-320-7145), and an abortion pill protest from 2-3 p.m. Sundays at 1805 Calumet Ave., Valparaiso (contact Pat at 242-1707).
Rob Pastore, of St. Joseph in Hammond, introduced himself as the new president of Lake County Right to Life, and announced the group’s upcoming banquet on Friday, April 24, at Avalon Manor in Hobart. Doors open at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m., with a freewill offering accepted. The guest speaker will be Dr. George Delgado, who was involved with the development of the abortion pill reverse drug.
Guest speaker Jill McNamara, founder and leader of Miscarriage, Mothers & Others, a local nonprofit group that educates and advocates about the dignified handling and burial of the remains of all unborn children, gave a history of her group, which provides Miscarriage Possibility Kits to pregnant mothers in case they need to collect the fetal remains for burial in the event of a miscarriage.
She explained that the most important accomplishment of MMO came in 2014, when the State of Indiana adopted House Enrolled Bill 1190, ensuring that every parent, regardless of their child’s gestational age, be given the choice on how to dispose of their baby’s fetal remains after a miscarriage in a hospital or clinic. “Until then, many mothers never even knew what had happened to their child,” she said. “The remains of children up to five months old could be discarded as medical waste, without telling the parents and with no birth certificate.”
Now, she explained, hospitals must facilitate burial, if the family wishes, and funeral directors have become involved, while some cemeteries host annual services for miscarried babies. “Death does not end a mother’s relationship with her child; they always remember,” McNamara added.
McNamara said she hopes to soon hand the leadership of MMO over to an interested nurse, which will enable her “to pursue my political goals.” Meanwhile, MMO is seeking new members, and can be contacted at 730-9199, miscarriedbaby.com or P.O. Box 608, Crown Point, IN 46308.
For more information about the Walking with Moms in Need program, contact Rosanne Kouris at the Diocese of Gary, rkouris@dcgary.org, 769-9292. The next Diocesan Prolife Meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, at the Pastoral Center in Merrillville.
Caption: Jo Brown (right) explains to (from left) Cathy Bartczak and Ruth Palis, as well as others attending the Diocese of Gary’s semi-annual Prolife Meeting on April 13 at the Pastoral Center in Merrillville, how the Walking With Mothers in Need group at St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville was recently able to help its first mother in need with diapers and other baby needs after she reached out to the group. “She’s the first mom who saw our sign in the church’s gathering place and called us,” said Brown. “We are here to help however we can." (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
