“Are you growing tired of the battle?” was the provocative title of the talk given by Father Tom Lynch at the London and Area Right to Life dinner on April 26, in which he challenged pro-lifers to renew their movement.
Lynch, a moral theologian, dean of studies and dean of students at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto, is well known in pro-life circles for his almost 30 years of active pro-life involvement. He said that pro-life leaders need to examine where we have been and decide where we want to go.
He explained how there has been a great cultural shift in our society, with the most significant being a great religious withdrawal. Due to this great religious withdrawal, many religious leaders are unsure of how to speak to the average person. People aren’t sure how to deal with the government and the many problems in our society that are derived from the cultural shift. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that people with pro-life views are often shut out of politics and the media.
He noted simple pragmatic problems, such as the fact there are fewer volunteers today. Women who at one time stayed home to raise a family were a primary source of pro-life volunteers. Now they go to work.
With such problems and challenges, it is difficult to figure out what we should do and where we should go. Lynch stated that we need a long-range plan based on what we want society to become. He said: “Tell me what you want, what you really want.”
