George Weigel Headlines Pro-Life Conference

Details: 03 August 2012

Every year in October, my office sponsors a pro-life conference on behalf of the Bishops of Nebraska. This year’s conference will be held Friday, Oct. 12 and Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln.

I’m thrilled to announce that this year’s keynote speaker is Mr. George Weigel. Mr. Weigel is a distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and is a widely-read author. One of his most notable writings is a biography on Blessed John Paul II.

Mr. Weigel is also a Vatican analyst for NBC News, is a contributor to Newsweek, and writes a weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," that is syndicated to 60 newspapers around the United States, including this newspaper (hint: look at the page opposite this one!).

Mr. Weigel will be the keynote speaker at the Friday night banquet with his talk entitled "Why We’re Winning—The Pro-Life Cause Forty Years After Roe vs. Wade." He will also headline the Saturday conference with a talk entitled "John Paul II and the Challenge of 21st Century Culture."

The Saturday conference will include three other exceptional speakers. The first is Father Daniel Mindling. Father Mindling is the Academic Dean and Professor of Moral Theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.

Father Mindling will address the very hot topic of "Moral Cooperation with Outside Organizations." Many Catholics are being confronted with the moral dilemma of wanting to contribute to an organization that does good medical research, for example, but also funds or supports immoral research (e.g. human embryonic stem cell research). Father Mindling’s presentation will explain the moral principles that can assist Catholics in making such decisions.

Another great speaker is Mr. Omar Gutierrez, who is manager of the Office of Missions and Justice for the Archdiocese of Omaha. Mr. Gutierrez will address another very intriguing debate within our Church: "The ‘Pro-Life’ Issues: Where Can Catholics Disagree?"

In this talk, Mr. Gutierrez will explain the moral similarities and differences among the various issues related to the dignity of human life such as abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, the death penalty, healthcare, war, and poverty programs. This will include an explanation on how the Church’s teaching on intrinsic evil and prudential judgment factor into public policy responses to these issues.

Finally, a missionary team from Generation Life will give a presentation on "Young People Building a Culture of Life." Generation Life is a "movement of young people who live the beautiful teachings of the Catholic Church on human sexuality and who are committed to building a culture of life by spreading the messages of life and love to other young people."

Generation Life missionaries have made a "commitment to sexual purity and desire to influence the rest of our generation to do the same. They believe that we can change our sexuality saturated culture by saying ‘yes!’ to saving sexual intercourse and all intimate acts for marriage."

A team of five Generation Life missionaries will be in Nebraska from Oct. 1 through Dec. 14 to provide a full-time chastity speakers bureau for Catholic schools, religious education and youth programs.

Tickets may be purchased for the Friday banquet only for a cost of $35 per person, or a table of 10 for $350. Tickets for the Saturday conference only may also be purchased for $35. Tickets for the entire conference (the Friday banquet and the Saturday talks) may be purchased for $55. Online registration is available at www.nebcathcon.org.

So mark your calendar and plan to attend this year’s pro-life conference. It is an excellent opportunity to be informed, inspired and energized to engage in the battle to rebuild a civilization of life and love.

You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.