IWKnights Corner (Bulletin Insert) for February 9, 2020

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus?

We will continue with another profile of a young Pro-Life leader who was featured in the recent KofC's Columbia article entitled "Voices of the Pro-Life Generation".

"As I was growing up in Red Deer, Alberta, my parents taught natural family planning (NFP) and ensured that a culture of life was celebrated in our family.  My formation at the Newman Centre at McGill University helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the philosophical foundations of the prolife movement.  While attending a Physicians for Life conference in med school, I met students from across the country who wanted to practice medicine like me, with a pro-life worldview.

Dr. Thomas Bouchard, 37, is president of the Calgary Catholic Medical Association, past president of the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians & Societies, and a past board member of Canadian Physicians for Life.  As a family medicine doctor and the medical director at two nursing homes, his work spans from delivering babies to geriatric care. He is a member of St. Albert the Great Council 12446 in Calgary. Photo by Bryce Meyer

How I’m involved: Despite the efforts of our Catholic medical organizations to lobby the government to maintain a Hippocratic view of medicine, respecting life at all stages, euthanasia was legalized in Canada in 2016.  We are now focused on upholding the dignity of our patients’ lives by defending freedom of conscience in this new environment.  For the last five years,  I have also been a medical consultant for the Marquette University Institute for Natural Family Planning, and I’ve co-authored over 30 articles, mainly related to the science of NFP.

Pro-life challenges: The first step is building friendships with people with different opinions and learning to listen to their perspectives in a sensitive way.  When a one-on-one friendship of trust is established, more controversial subjects can be approached.  Careful listening is also key to building trust between physicians and patients.

The pro-life message: We cannot simply preach to the choir.  We have to 'speak in tongues' — learning the best words to reach all kinds of people, doing our best to understand where they are coming from and respecting their freedom while still advocating for the littlest ones who don’t have a voice in our society.

Signs of hope: Once we find fellowship, through our parishes and pro-life organizations, we must also provide a welcoming home for others.  We need to mentor younger people to learn to speak with clarity and charity, and we need to share our testimony with them.  This new generation is convinced by compelling stories.

Advice to Knights: True religion is to look after orphans and widows in their distress (cf. Jas 1:27).  The Knights are one of the best examples of this.  People who, because of circumstances and upbringing, have not understood the pro-life message, are also 'orphans and widows.'  We have to open up new horizons to them so that they find in us fathers and brothers who can bring them back home."

Read the entire article and more about the Knights of Columbus at KofC.org - our web site or at: www.IWKnights.com/bulletin or in facebook.com/IWknights 9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.

Links Related to this week’s column:

Voices Of The Pro-Life Generation
	Young leaders speak about the impact they are having in the preeminent human rights battle of our time
		By Knights of Columbus Columbia Magazine Staff (1/1/2020)
			A national leader of abortion advocacy arrived in downtown Washington, D.C., during the 2010 March for Life and could barely believe her eyes. Nancy Keenan, then president of NARAL, later told a Newsweek reporter: “I just thought, my gosh, they are so young. There are so many of them, and they are so young.”......
				Click here for Article
		To learn more about the organizations & ministries the IWKnights support through our Pro-life efforts. . . . . . .
			Urban K-Life  Hope, belief and stability for urban teens Click here. Culture of Life Fund Knights of Columbus Supreme Council Click here.