GABRIEL PROJECT
Alternative to abortion

Parishes showing
‘signs of life’
through Gabriel Project
By Steve Euvino

    
   The Gabriel Project — it’s about offering pregnant women another option — or, if you will, a choice — to abortion.
     Several parishes in the Diocese of Gary have agreed to become part of the growing group of churches in the Midwest and nationally to offer the Gabriel Project – churches standing together in their commitment to offer assistance to women and families facing crisis pregnancies.
     Started in the early 1990s and coming to Indiana in 1999, the Gabriel Project enables a woman needing help during pregnancy to call a toll-free number or receive referral by a local agency to connect with someone and receive compassion and assurance that the local church community supports her and is prepared to offer her immediate and practical help.
     “We’ve learned that these women did not freely choose to have an abortion,” said Janet Morana, associate director of Priests for Life, a national pro-life organization.
     Speaking at Masses Oct. 1-2 at St. Stephen, Martyr, Merrillville, Morana noted that women considering abortions “feel trapped, abandoned. They only wish there was someone to reach out.”
     This outreach may include prayer or personal, material, financial, and educational support — ranging from a commitment to prayer to donating maternity or infant clothing or supplies or organizing a fundraiser to speaking at parishes about the project.
     St. Patrick, Chesterton, another participating parish, is hosting Gabriel Project training Oct. 21-22.
     Elaine Hartman, executive director for the Great Lakes Gabriel Project, spoke at St. Patrick Masses Oct. 1-2. As she noted, “Society and mainstream media want us to think that abortion is the women’s right to choose, but we know a different story. We see the girls walk into abortion clinics because they have no choice.”
     One way to inform women and the public is the “Sign of Life” that is posted outside a church. The sign contains a toll-free number that someone can call. The person on the other end will connect the caller with someone in her vicinity.
     Hartman, a parishioner at St. Bartholomew in Columbus, Ind., said some women calling need encouragement, while others have material needs. Most of all, she said, they need someone to be a friend or surrogate sister or mother.
     Calling Gabriel a “very joyful project,” Hartman said of this all-volunteer effort, “We give our time and our caring. The women are so grateful; they’re not used to little acts of kindness.”
     The Gabriel Project has received support nationally from the Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic men’s organization has adopted Gabriel as its pro-life charity for Indiana, Hartman said. In this state, that supports includes funding for the outdoor signs. Those signs include, in addition to the toll-free number, this statement: “The members of this church community see in the creation of each baby a fresh expression of God’s unfailing love.”
     The Gabriel Project employs automobile magnets as well as the outdoor signs to promote itself. Hartman estimates that one-half of the callers are a result of the magnetic signs. She noted that even before the project came to this diocese, two area women — one from Gary, the other from Valparaiso — made that toll-free call.
     Since those initial meetings, Hartman said, St. Edward in Lowell, St. Mary in Griffith, and the other Merrillville parishes have joined the Gabriel Project network.
     Roseann Kouris, coordinator for the Gabriel Project at St. Edward, said Hartman spoke at her parish in August. About 25 people responded, Kouris said.
     “This is a church project, and people trust stuff on church property,” Kouris said. She added Gabriel includes a Spanish ministry, and her parish already hosts a Spanish Mass for migrant workers and others.
     “It makes the whole parish a crisis pregnancy center, and there’s nothing like that in our area,” Kouris said, adding that Gabriel is not limited to Catholic women.
     Father Michael Maginot, pastor at St. Stephen, Martyr, said of Gabriel: “It sounds like a good idea. These women think they have a choice, but they’ve been railroaded into [abortion]. We want to show that the people in this community are willing to show there are other options to preserve the life of the child.”
     In addition to providing other options, Morana said at St. Stephen, “You can take your faith and shine it out in the community.” These women, she added, “want help. They want to know it’s there.”
     Both Morana and Hartman recounted stories of women aided by the Gabriel Project who’ve remained in contact with their Gabriel “angels” — volunteers specially trained to assist these women. Hartman recalled one woman who miscarried one pregnancy made sure that the first person she called to report she was again expecting was her Gabriel contact.
     Hartman noted that Great Lakes Gabriel Project has expanded from Indiana to include the Archdiocese of Chicago, Diocese of Lansing, Ill., and parishes in Michigan and Ohio. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has adopted the project, she said, as have nearly all of the five Hoosier dioceses. The Gabriel Project in Indianapolis, she said, received just over 100 calls in 2004.
     Note: For more information about the Gabriel Project call 877-734-2444 or go to projectgabriel@comcast.net

Download this printer friendly
 Gabriel Angel Gifts of Life form and return to your parish.

Order this inspirational poster here at
http://www.archbalt.org/respect-life/posters/