Jacksonville, Fla. – Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead of the Diocese of Phoenix will give the keynote address at the Florida Respect Life Conference, Oct. 12-13, at the Cody Enrichment Center at St. Joseph Parish, 4152 Loretto Road, Jacksonville.
The conference is featuring an impressive line-up of speakers on a variety of topics from modern threats to conscience and healthcare to end-of-life issues to abolishing the death penalty. Catholics throughout Florida will be attending. The theme of this year’s conference is In the World but not of the World.
The conference opens with registration at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, followed by a pro-life rosary at 6:30 p.m. and Mass at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 11757 Old St. Augustine Road.
At 8 p.m., Father Alfred Cioffi, assistant professor of biology at St. Thomas University in Miami, will speak about “Forming Your Catholic Conscience.”
On Saturday, Oct. 13, the conference begins at 8 a.m. at the Cody Enrichment Center, with Bishop Olmstead, a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), giving the keynote address at 9:15 a.m. on “Wiser than Despair: Being Pro-Life Today.”
Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, speaks at 10 a.m. on “Modern Threats to Conscience in Healthcare.”
At 11:15 a.m., a panel from the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops will discuss legislative issues, including two amendments on the November ballot dealing with abortion funding (Amendment 6) and religious liberty (Amendment 8).
Panel members are Executive Director Michael McCarron; Michael Sheedy, associate director for health and Sheila Hopkins, associate director for social concerns and respect life.
The afternoon session will begin at 1:30 p.m. with a talk by Austin Ruse, president of C-FAM, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.
The death penalty will be the topic of discussion at 2:15 p.m. by a panel comprising Bishop Emeritus John J. Snyder, Dale Recinella, lay chaplain for Florida prisons and Nancy O’Byrne, chairperson of the diocesan Justice and Peace Commission.
At 3:20 p.m. Michael Sheedy will discuss POLST, the Physician’s Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment, a new document on end-of-life care.
The conference concludes with a 5:30 p.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Felipe J. Estévez of the Diocese of St. Augustine followed by an awards ceremony.
The conference also will feature a youth track from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday in the St. Joseph school gym. High school students must register online for the free event.
The conference is open to the public. For details, call Michael Day at the Diocesan Center for Family Life at (904) 308-7474 or email mday@dosafl.com. More details are also available on their website: www.dcfl.org.
Love Come Alive Concert
The Family Life Office of the Diocese of St. Augustine is proud to host the Love Come Alive concert tour with Chris Cole, Kevin Heider and introducing Marie Price on Saturday, Oct. 13. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the concert beginning at 8 p.m.
The concert is a festival of music for the “Culture of Life” that is open to everyone, youth and adults, and tickets cost $10. It will be held in the St. Joseph Catholic School gymnasium, 11600 Old St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville.
To purchase tickets, visit www.dcfl.org or call (904) 308-7474.