Pro-life warriors to receive Evangelium Vitae Medal from Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture
STATEN ISLAND, NY – Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life and Gospel of Life Ministries, issued the following statement today after learning that New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith and Marie Smith, founder and director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, have been named the 2014 recipients of the Envangelium Vitae Medal from the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.
Father Pavone said: “Chris and Marie Smith have been fighting for the rights of the unborn on the national and international level for decades. They are two of the most effective pro-life leaders I have ever had the privilege to know and it’s an honor to work with them.”
Rep. Smith is co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives and has authored numerous pro-life bills in his 33 years of service. Most recently, he introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, calling for a government-wide prohibition on taxpayer funding for elective abortion.
Through the Parliamentary Network, which became part of Gospel of Life Ministries in 2010, Mrs. Smith works internationally to advance the culture of life. Her work is a critical part of the Gospel of Life family of ministries as she works with lawmakers, religious leaders, and laity around the world to protect unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion. As a representative of Priests for Life at the United Nations, Mrs. Smith advocates for life-affirming solutions to global challenges that respects the dignity of life from conception to natural death. For more information about the Parliamentary Network, go to pncius.org
Previous winners of the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Award include Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities; Helen M. Alvaré, associate professor of law George Mason University, and Mother Agnes Mary Donovan and the Sisters of Life.
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.