Thirty years ago, this past March 25, St. Pope John Paul II blessed the church with his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae.” Marking that anniversary, the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life issued an important document “Life Is Always a Good: Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life.” As Cardinal Kevin Farrell observed in his introductory letter, the aim of this document is “to reaffirm the words of Saint John Paul II, as repeatedly emphasized by Pope Francis, and to draw the attention of all people of good will who wish to be at the service of communities to effectively defend and promote every human person’s life.” As such, the document offers a new pastoral framework for dioceses to begin a synodal process for strengthening and promoting the pastoral care of human life. This synodal approach emphasizes dialogue, listening, prayer and discernment on the part of all the faithful, who with the guidance of Holy Spirit are called to work “to create the conditions to welcome and accompany life anywhere and anytime.” This will demand a shift in our way of thinking, which the document describes as moving from a “logic of performing activities to achieve objectives” to a “logic of co-responsibility and transformative discipleship.” The aim is not to set our sights on taking up a project, but to build what the document calls an “ecclesial intelligence,” where all members become active and aware of the reality before us and join together as disciples of Jesus to respond to a common call in imitation of the Good Samaritan, who came to the aid of a person in need. By taking this synodal approach to our pro-life mission, we are called to accompany one another as fellow pilgrims in solidarity, advocating and promoting the dignity of every human being. “In many countries, attention to life issues is kept high by pro-life movements, but many of them mainly focus on civil and political action,” the document states. What is needed is an approach that is marked by pastoral care, which “is an ecclesial action of the Christian community, laypeople and pastors together, which cannot be delegated and is called to address every situation in which human dignity is threatened, without confining itself to specific areas.” In preparing the document, the consultation with bishops “made it possible to identify a widespread concern about serious violations of human life, as well as a clear need to look beyond beginning and end-of-life issues, which still remain a priority.” But in doing so, the emphasis will need to be on the formation and transformation of people, developing in them a “situational intelligence, empathy, intuition, and practical wisdom” to implement pastoral action and care wherever human life is at risk. This document has the promise of helping us in a moment when polarization has so paralyzed our dialogue about life issues. It challenges us to take up this important work by emphasizing not projects and policies to implement and advocate but rather the formation of the Christian community, so that each member will be guided by a logic of co-responsibility and transformative discipleship in safeguarding and promoting the life and dignity of every human being. To get us started, I urge you to read and study this document, which can be accessed at the link below. Our Respect Life Office already is studying it with the aim of developing resources that might be helpful as we take up the work of helping parishioners, educators, parents and young people to develop and deepen a surpassing respect for the value of life. You can read the text by visiting: laityfamilylife.va/content/laityfamilylife/en/life-is-always-a-good.html.