Greetings and welcome,

 This Year of Faith brings us closer to one another as we continue to answer the call to Belong More Deeply especially by celebrating together in prayer our Newly elected Pope Francis.  We are also called to act in defense of life from the moment of conception through natural death and to advocate for laws that protect and support life. ACT NOW to oppose the Reproductive Health Act, also known as the Radical Abortion Bill from becoming law in New York State. Details below. The NYS legislative agenda and training materials for Catholics at the Capitol on March 20th are available for your information and use with legislators. Generation Life is here! Gen Life is a movement of young people building a culture of life while spreading the pro-life and chastity message during this Holy Lenten Season. Over forty presentations will be given to youth in Religious Education Programs and High Schools in the diocese. You too can attend a Generation Life presentation on March 22nd, 7:30pm at St. Matthews Church in Dix Hills. For more information please see below. Respect Life celebrated the 11th annual "Respect Life Youth Awards Contest" at Kellenberg Memorial High School on Thursday night, March 14th. Over 1000 students entered the contest and 38 winners were chosen from 165 finalists! Winning entries will be posed on the website soon and some can be viewed on our Facebook page. Congratulations to all for an outstanding job and many thanks to teachers, catechists, principals and Director's of Religious Education who support this program. April 16th, 2013, will be the 2nd Natural Family Informational Overview at St. Agnes Cathedral Pastoral Center. Please see details below and invitations will follow.  

A letter from Bishop Murphy on the HHS Mandate to the Faithful.

      The latest Administration pronouncements were a disappointment. After a week of analyzing this latest proposal from the Administration, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed our willingness to continue to try to convince the government that the objectively inadequate "accommodation" from the HHS continues to fall far short of the mark.

      To me, the major problem is in the very word the Administration uses: accommodation. The state is not the giver of rights, especially religious freedom. We as citizens possess the right to religious freedom without government pronouncement and, in truth, the Administration cannot "accommodate" what is already ours. We should not be treated as if we are second class citizens because we disagree with the government's new and arbitrary insistence that all of us have to follow their prescriptions despite our religious beliefs and our right to freedom of conscience. Those rights are God-given, not state-granted. Every person and every religious institution already has from God what is guaranteed in our Constitution and Bill of Rights: freedom of religion and of conscience.

        Now in the middle of Lent I write to you to ask you first of all to pray that God will protect us and our God-given rights as persons and as a Church. Second, I invite you to stay informed and be ready to respond to our calls for help as needed.

        Keep your eye on the website of the US Bishops www.usccb.org

 as well as our news website www.licatholic.org and your Congressperson know that you and I have not lost interest. Tell them we are resolute in insisting on this most basic freedom, the freedom of religious belief and the protection of conscience. To contact your US Senators and Representatives, go to the website of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment www.nchla.org to keep up-to-date and find concrete ways for concerted action. To get involved, please consider joining grass roots advocacy groups forming in parishes across the Diocese, such as Catholics for Freedom of Religion www.catholicsforfreedomofreligion.com. I encourage you to consider participation in such a group. Let our Senators and your Congressperson know that you and I have not lost interest. Tell them we are resolute in insisting on this most basic freedom, the freedom of religious belief and the protection of conscience. To contact your US Senators and Representatives, go to the website of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment www.nchla.org. Send an email to your Representatives to demand the overturning of the HHS mandate. Plans are also being made for the Second Fortnight for Freedom that will take place this summer. More details about the Fortnight will be forthcoming.

      Continue to pray that what is ours by right will be recognized and honored for the good of all. And continue to stand together. Your witness is needed now more than ever.

Devotedly yours in Christ,

Most Reverend William Murphy

Bishop of Rockville Centre

On Friday, March 29 from 10:30 a.m. -12 noon, the Long Island Coalition for Life invites all to join a Good Friday Silent Vigil in Defense of Life in front of

                  PROJECT RACHEL

       Hope and Healing after abortion loss