Post-Abortion Ministry

Weekend Retreat for Post-Abortion Healing

Rachel’s Vineyard, a weekend retreat designed to heal the emotional and spiritual wounds of abortion, will be held June 21-23, 2013 at the Spiritan Center in Bethel Park. In a confidential and supportive atmosphere, Rachel’s Vineyard demonstrates God’s love, forgiveness, and compassion to women and men struggling with abortion’s aftermath. Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Pittsburgh co-sponsor this retreat. To register or for more information, call Toni Jester at 412-352-5348. Registration information is also available at www.ccpgh.org   

Western Pennsylvania: (412) 456-3167

National Hotline: 1-800-5WE-CARE

What do we know about you?

Others who have walked this path toward healing tell us about you.

Before your abortion you were sure that this was the right thing for you:

• Your problems were insurmountable
• You had to make an immediate decision
• Your support system had eroded
• You were under extreme pressure
• You didn't know your options
• You feared rejection
• You had a right to your own choice

After your abortion, your emotional reactions to the abortion may have been suppressed for a long time. Now your initial sense of relief, of not being pregnant gives way to:

• A sense of loss
• A feeling of guilt
• Loneliness/alienation
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Relational changes with your partner
• Sleep disturbances, nightmares
• Separation from God

Whatever the reason for the abortion, if you are now seeking a closer union with God, and spiritual healing,

A COMPASSIONATE LOVING CHURCH IS WAITING.

Are you ready to move towards the loving forgiveness of God, to accept His forgiveness, and to begin the journey back to reconciliation with Him? This is the ultimate goal of Project Rachel.

Project Rachel is a means of receiving the healing grace of God. It helps the individual to move from brokenness toward reconciliation - with self, with the unborn child, the family, the Church, and with God.

Begin your path to healing and hope.

From March 25, 1995 "The Gospel of Life" eleventh encyclical of Pope John Paul II

I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life.

Project Rachel
(412) 456-3167
E-mail: rachel@diopitt.org

(Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania)
All calls and e-mails are confidential.

Sponsored by: Department for Social Awareness, Diocese of Pittsburgh
(412) 456-3161, E-mail: rachel@diopitt.org

NATIONAL HOTLINE: 1-800-5WE-CARE

Project Rachel was developed by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Project Rachel Website