The Diocese of Worcester’s annual Mass for Life will be celebrated by Bishop McManus on Friday, March 25, at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Cathedral, Worcester. The liturgy, which will be livestreamed, will celebrate the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, a feast day with special theological significance for the pro-life cause.
“We draw attention to the fact that the second person of the Trinity dwelled in the Blessed Virgin’s womb and shared in our human nature from its beginning, as well as in our development,” said Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office, who organizes the Mass.
The Mother Teresa Pro-Life Award, the Ruth Pakaluk Pro-Life Youth Award, and the Gospel of Life Award, given annually to individuals who have shown heroic witness to the intrinsic value of each human life, will be presented.
This year’s recipients of the Mother Teresa Pro-Life Award are Louise Faiola and Robert and Frances Pike.
Louise Faiola has been involved in pro-life activities for decades. She recently “retired” as the volunteer Respect Life ministry coordinator at her parish, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel/Our Lady of Loreto in Worcester. “She has been an active and effective leader, organizing parish fundraisers to assist women in choosing life on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and has been a courageous and faithful advocate on public policy issues by organizing letter writing campaigns, and speaking with area lawmakers to voice opposition to abortion, assisted suicide, and dangerous sex education programs in the public schools,” according to Mrs. LeDoux’s prepared remarks.
Robert and Frances Pike have been a strong pro-life presence for more than 50 years in both the St. Vincent de Paul Society (where Fran served as the executive director) and the Knights of Columbus. They have sponsored students to attend the March for Life bus trip every year, and they often donated cribs and other items to Problem Pregnancy, serving women in crisis pregnancies, Mrs. LeDoux noted. They also coordinated the annual Knights of Columbus Pro-Life Mass in the diocese.
Two area college students will be the 2022 recipients of the Ruth V.K. Pakaluk Pro-Life Youth Award.
Marya Makuc is a senior at the College of the Holy Cross. She has been the co-chair of the school’s Students for Life group for two years. She has organized activities to foster a culture of life, including students praying outside of Planned Parenthood and making resources for supporting women in crisis pregnancies available on campus. “Marya understands the importance of ongoing formation among her peers,” Mrs. LeDoux said.
Simon Rees is a junior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and is the second and current president of the school’s Students for Life group. Simon has worked with the pro-life groups at Holy Cross and Assumption University, helping to plan a trip to the March for Life and the Washington, D.C., Pro-Life Summit and organizing prayer efforts outside of Planned Parenthood. He has been “instrumental in bringing pro-life speakers to campus, helping his fellow students to be better prepared to build a culture of life,” Mrs. LeDoux noted. Simon also serves as vice president of WPI’s Catholic Newman Club.
Father James M. Hayes, SJ, will be the recipient of this year’s Gospel of Life Award. The Gospel of Life Award, presented to a priest in the Diocese of Worcester, was inaugurated in 2006 and named with the English title of Saint John Paul II’s great encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life).
Jesuit Father James M. Hayes entered the Society of Jesus in 1975 and was ordained to the priesthood in June 1985. He holds master’s degrees in philosophy and pastoral counseling and has spent many years in teaching, chaplaincy work, and pastoral ministry. He has served as vocations director for the New England Province of the Society of Jesus and rector of the Jesuit Community. Currently, Father Hayes serves as chaplain at Holy Cross, where he is also the founder and first chair of the college’s Mission and Identity Committee. He has been the adviser to the Students for Life at Holy Cross for the past 11 years. “He has been a faithful advocate for the Gospel of Life and a dedicated mentor for his students, helping them to establish very effective leadership skills in their various ministries,” Mrs. LeDoux said.