current newsletter
July 2025, Volume 30, No. 2:
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE FOR LIFE
Special Luncheon on Thursday, September 11!
Warmest salutations to the membership of Business and Professional People For Life! We have wonderful news to share! The BPPFL Board has been working to book a special speaker that we knew would be difficult to secure, but we recently received word that this person is available for our September luncheon. Mark your calendars now, as we are very excited to announce that our featured speaker will be none other than the sixth Archbishop of Omaha, Archbishop Michael G. McGovern! Archbishop McGovern was appointed by Pope Francis on March 31 to replace the retiring Archbishop George Lucas, who had served the Archdiocese since 2009 and had submitted his resignation in June 2024 (as required by canon law when a bishop reaches the age of 75). Bring your family, call your friends and invite your coworkers to meet Omaha's new Archbishop!
Archbishop McGovern was born on July 1, 1964, in Evergreen Park, Illinois. He is the youngest child of the late Joseph and Eleanor McGovern. Archbishop McGovern grew up in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago, and his family was active in Christ the King Parish. He then attended St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. During high school, he served as a Lector both at St. Ignatius and at this home parish. Archbishop McGovern attended Loyola University in Chicago (1982-86). At Loyola University he was invited to participate in the Honors Program and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1986. After graduating, Archbishop McGovern worked for four years before applying for admission as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Chicago at Mundelein Seminary. He was awarded a Baccalaureate degree in Theology in 1993 and a Master of Divinity in 1994. On May 21, 1994, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin ordained Father Michael McGovern to the priesthood in Holy Name Cathedral. He served as an Associate Pastor at Queen of the Universe Parish, St. Mary in Lake Forest and St. Juliana in Chicago. On December 15, 2004, Cardinal Francis George appointed Father McGovern as Pastor of St. Mary in Lake Forest. On July 1, 2016, Cardinal Blase Cupich appointed Father McGovern Pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Old Mill Creek, IL.
On July 22, 2020, Cardinal Blase Cupich ordained and installed Bishop McGovern as the Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Belleville in the Cathedral of St. Peter. Bishop McGovern was formally installed as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha on May 7, 2025 at St. Cecilia Cathedral.
Don't miss this opportunity to meet the new Archbishop of Omaha! Be sure to RSVP as soon as possible, no later than Tuesday, September 9th. RSVP information is provided at the end of this letter. This luncheon will be hosted at the German-American Society at 3717 S. 120th St. in Omaha, with social time beginning at 11:15 and lunch at noon. Please note that our luncheon will be in the north hall.
"The fight for life is a fight for humanity." (Francis Schaeffer)
Update for "A Haven For Healing" Memorial
Regarding our memorial, "A Haven For Healing" (located at St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery, 46th & Q St. in Omaha), we have been discussing the idea of adding an engraving to clarify the memorial's purpose. Next to the existing 12"x12" dedication stone, we are proposing to add a stone reading:
"A HAVEN FOR HEALING"
DEDICATED TO
PREBORN LIVES LOST
TO MISCARRIAGE
OR ABORTION
As our memorial was added after the original installation of the Rachel Statue, the inscription on the statue's base only mentions abortion, and we feel a message is needed that specifies that preborn lives lost to miscarriage are included as well. For about 27 years, BPPFL has pursued this ministry by assisting with or fully paying the cost of engraving messages on the memorial's stones. The names of 64 preborn babies are currently engraved at the memorial.
"The heart of the matter is that every child is a blessing." (Pope Francis)
Abortion Drug Findings From the Ethics and Public Policy Center
The following is an excerpt from the article, "New EPPC Study Confirms Previous Findings of Abortion Drug Dangers," by Chuck Donovan, published April 30, 2025 by The Washington Stand.
"The study is significant in many ways in addition to the size of the study population. First, it covers a sample of women who have taken the drug in recent years, whereas prior safety and efficacy studies date back a decade or more. The EPPC study examined the impact of the drug under the loose conditions that have actually prevailed in the past decade. These conditions, as prior investigators have warned, include deletion of multiple medical visits originally recommended by the FDA, the use of "no test" protocols designed to confirm pregnancy and to assure it is not ectopic, online distribution of the pills, and use for at least three and sometimes more weeks later in pregnancy than when the drug was originally approved in the year 2000. Mifepristone is known to become less effective and more hazardous for women as the pregnancy proceeds.
Mifepristone now dominates abortion provision in the United States, constituting nearly two-thirds of the procedures carried out in the country. It is tailor-made for a laissez-faire national policy on abortion as our already weak system of abortion incidence and injury reporting makes tracking safety especially difficult when women experience harms and are treated not by the medical personnel who have supplied the drug but by third parties who may be aware of or misinformed about their medical history. In its first 16 years, mifepristone harms, including injuries and deaths, were subject to mandatory reporting to the FDA. In 2016, that mandate was lifted, and the FDA required the reporting of harm only when use of the pill led, as it sometimes does, to a maternal facility.
For more, see "The Importance of the EPPC Study on Health Risks of Chemical Abortions" by Michael j. New and "New Report: The Abortion Pill Harms Women" by John Stonestreet.
ANNUAL PRAYER SERVICE AT "A HAVEN FOR HEALING"
Please join us for our annual, brief prayer service at "A Haven For Healing" on Sunday, August 24 at 2:00 pm. It is a wonderful way to remember and honor the preborn lives lost to miscarriage or abortion in our community. The memorial is located on the south side of St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery at 46th & Q Street. Simply enter the Cemetery from Q Street and follow the road as it winds southward and look for the Rachel Statue facing your approach. See you there!
"We must not be afraid to defend life." (Cardinal Timothy Dolan)
President's Message to the Membership
Dear Brothers and Sisters in BPPFL,
We are very excited about our incoming speaker for our next luncheon on September 11, 2025. If we all pray, make the effort to attend, and invite others to join us through personal contacts, meetings, churches and other groups, we could set an all time record for attendance. Archbishop Michael McGovern, the new Omaha Archbishop, has generously agreed to give us his perspective on the importance of pro-life work. We have the facilities, the food, and fellowship to make the luncheon one of the best in our 31 year history.
We welcome all who wish to attend, Catholics, Protestants, and all of good will who will contribute to making this an informative and joyous occasion.
God Bless You All,
John H. Kellogg, Jr., BPPFL President
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Luncheon Details for September 11, 2025
Please email your reservations to clairemariehartford@gmail.com or call 402-341-8886 on or before Tuesday, September 9th. Please include your name or names for each person. More luncheon details:
Where: North Hall of the German-American Society, 3717 South 120th Street, Omaha
When: Thursday, September 11th with social time at 11:15 am and lunch at noon
Price: $25.00 per person (includes venue, tax and gratuity)
THANK YOU FOR MAKING AN EARLY RESERVATION!
