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2 MARCH 28-APRIL 10, 2020 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Archbishop's Column The Gospel of Life: Medicine for our times Highlights from the live call with Archbishop Aquila I t has been 25 years since St. John Paul II released his landmark encyclical Evangelium Vitae – The Gospel of Life – which made a sig- nificant contribution to the Church's understanding of how each person's human dignity is to be valued. Over the years since its publication, the world has witnessed a steady erosion of the laws and common societal beliefs that have safeguarded this God-given dignity, from changes to what the state recognizes as marriage, to how we treat the elderly, to the continued destruction of the unborn child. Pope Francis has joined his voice to this teaching by emphasiz- ing the inherent value of the unborn and the elderly as he speaks strongly against our throwaway culture throughout the world. I have always appreciated the clear and prophetic nature of Evangelium Vitae. Indeed, the current threat of the COVID -19 virus will be a defining moment in how our society treats each person's dignity. Will we "respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life" (EV, 5) in the way that we respond, or will we only look out for ourselves? Will we respect the life of the elderly as much as the young? St. John Paul II has words of wisdom for us on this choice: only in the first direction "will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!" (EV, 5). Only when countries follow the Gospel of Life, will true and lasting peace come. In this edition of the Denver Catholic, you will notice two articles by priests from our archdiocese who are moral theologians, Fathers Luis Granados and Angel Perez. Each arti- cle addresses a challenge to human dignity that we face today. In his article, Father Perez under- scores that the dignity and value of each person is rooted in being made in God's image and likeness. Today we see the devaluing of the person in the widespread adoption of the belief that truth is relative and determined by each person. Evangelium Vitae warns that this way of approaching life leads to people inevitably reaching the point of rejecting one another as obstacles in the way or tools to be used for one's self-satisfaction. (Cf. EV, 20). Father Granados tackles another idea coming into vogue in his article on abortion and euthanasia as the leading threats against human life. Some have advanced the argument that climate change or immigration S ocial distancing provides a great opportunity to do something many of us likely don't do much of anymore: speak on the phone. And on Sunday, March 22, that's exactly what 20,000 people of the Arch- diocese of Denver did with Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila and former CDC virologist Deacon Rob Lanciotti. The call was hosted to answer the faithful's questions about the coronavirus outbreak and how the archdiocese is responding. A multitude of topics were touched upon, including a spiritual reflection from Arch- bishop Aquila on how we as Christians are to respond in this pandemic, what Easter Masses are going to look like, what it means to "flatten the curve," and much more. We've assembled some quotes and highlights from the call for you below. ARCHBISHOP'S COMMENTS On whether God created coronavirus "...We need to understand that it is not God who creates the plague or the virus. This is something of nature. It happens. And and with that, the Lord certainly per- mits it. And it is to him that we truly need to turn during this time and and certainly seek his wisdom in all that we do and in the decisions that are made certainly in our own time." On what the Lord is teaching through this "...As we reflect on it from a spiritual point of view, we can see that the Lord perhaps is desiring to bring good out of this, and that is to wake us up to the truth that we are not God, that we are creatures, that we have been created by God and for God, and that it really calls us out of indifference. It calls us out of seeking our own preferences. And it truly is a wakeup call." On how the Easter Triduum will be celebrated "…All of the parishes, through a decree that came from the Holy See within the last few days, gave to all parish priests permission to celebrate in their parishes Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Satur- day and Easter Sunday without a congre- gation. And so the parishes that are able to livestream that will be livestreaming it. And we've encouraged them to do that. And I, too, will be celebrating the Triduum liturgies at the cathedral without a congregation present. And these liturgies will all be livestreamed for the faithful to participate." On what to pray for "I want to give you encouragement, continue to pray, continue to open your heart to the Lord and really put your trust in him, and especially to exercise the virtue of charity and especially for caring for the elderly. It is the people who are 60 or older who are most impacted by this virus. And so it will be important in the weeks and even months ahead to be cautious and to follow all of the directives of health care providers and and so that they do not get sick. And it's important to stay in touch with our elderly and to give them encouragement during this time, because it's difficult for them as they're confined to their homes or confined to their rooms if they're in nursing homes or in assisted living places, most of them are confined. And so keeping them in prayer and holding them up to the Lord and also really praying for health care officials and and praying especially for scientists." I want to give you encouragement, continue to pray, continue to open your heart to the Lord and really put your trust in him, and especially to exercise the virtue of charity and especially for caring for the elderly." ARCHBISHOP AQUILA photo by l'osservatore romano " ...As we reflect on it from a spiritual point of view, we can see that the Lord perhaps is desiring to bring good out of this, and that is to wake us up to the truth that we are not God, that we are creatures, that we have been created by God and for God." ARCHBISHOP AQUILA "