Abortion, exiting from the tragedy ” “

The diocese of Jaén in Spain, through the Episcopal Family and Life delegation, launched the Rachel project to spread information on the consequences of abortion and provide hope to women who underwent abortion. The Project was born in the United States twenty years ago. It was implemented in most dioceses in the US and in other Countries. In Spain the Rachel Project is coordinated by the public association of faithful Spei Mater, with the authorization of the American Bishops’ Conference and the supervision of Monsignor Juan Antonio Reig Pla, bishop of Alcalá de Henares, president of the sub-Commission for Life and the Family of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference. “In our society – said the bishop of Jaén, Monsignor Ramón del Hoyo López, presenting the launch the Project in his diocese – the culture of life is threatened by the dissemination of an authentic ‘culture of death.’ Over the past years is has become a social plague, to the extent that abortion is now considered a legal offence, decriminalized only in exceptional cases, claimed as a right of women, but leaving women to face their difficulties alone”. Each year over one hundred thousand abortions are carried out in Spain. Healing the wounds. Bishop Jaén has also written a pastoral letter to the faithful to explain the initiative. It is “a Catholic initiative that is born and developed in the United States to respond to the social tragedy of abortion, most times carried out for economic reasons, employment instability and lack of support, with consequences leading to the so-called ‘post-abortion syndrome.'” The purpose of the Project are “to accompany people hurt by abortion, who often carry this burden alone, to guide them along paths of self-reconciliation, with their bereaved child, and with God, through forgiveness and reconciliation. The intention is to help these people rebuild their lives through understanding and Christian love thanks to a team of experts”, the prelate said. For monsignor Ramón del Hoyo López, “to accompany and help women in situations of difficulty and to welcome a new life is a gift and a need that involves individuals, institutions, and society as a whole. But it’s equally necessary to provide those who already carried out an abortion and are living a deep moral tragedy to be given the help they direly need”. Spiritual and psychological aspects. Spei Mater president María José Mansilla pointed out that the “Rachel Project was founded by Victoria Thorn in Milwaukee, USA; in 1984. Today it’s active in 140 dioceses of the United States and in other States. It’s a diocesan-based service, characterized by a network of priests, psychologists, psychiatrists, spiritual directors and therapists with a specific formation, providing personal assistance and counsel to all those who seek to overcome the consequences of abortion”. “Based on the sacrament of reconciliation, the Rachel Project is an integral effort that combines the spiritual and psychological aspects” for personal recovery, added the Spei Mater president. The “Rachel Project” has been conceived “to provide confidential and qualified support to all people drawing close to it. It was conceived within the Catholic Church but it’s open to all those experiencing difficult situations due to the consequences of an abortion. It was conceived to help men and women, parents, siblings, friends and other people whose lives have been hurt by an abortion”. A testimony. There is also a website dedicated to the Project: www.proyecto-raquel.com. The website offers testimonies of women who experienced the tragedy of abortion and that managed to reach self-reconciliation and draw close to God thanks to the Rachel Project. A woman that voluntarily underwent abortion in 2007, said that participating in the Project has opened her heart: “Despite the suffering, Lord Jesus in his endless mercy gave me the grace to take on his shoulders everything I had inside me: resentment, rancour, anger”, forgiving also all those people who hadn’t helped her at a time of need. “I felt relieved – she pointed out – it was like taking off a heavy backpack that I had been carrying on my shoulders, causing much pain for all these years”. But the most beautiful experience was celebrating Mass for her lost child. “I could not imagine that such a deep pain could lead to render thanks to God and celebrate a Eucharist. Placing my son in the hands of Christ has been the most beautiful thing ever happened to me and I felt liberated from a terrible burden”.