Above: Deacon Josh Klickman with his wife, Trish, at his ordination to the permanent diaconate in June 2020.
Deacon Joshua Klickman, coordinator for the Human Life and Dignity Ministry in the Diocese of Raleigh, recently completed the new director training hosted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The training, which is organized and directed by the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, occurs every other year and focuses on giving diocesan leaders resources and networking opportunities with colleagues throughout the country.
The training is traditionally a three-day conference in Washington D.C.; however, this year, the event was conducted as a five-part webinar March 16-30.
While the location was different, Klickman said that the event was still powerful and informative. One of the biggest takeaways for Klickman was the reminder of how many resources the committee can provide to anyone who needs them.
“The secretariat of the pro-life activities … provides a plethora of resources and they do it down to the parish level,” said Klickman.
Klickman specified that anyone can visit the USCCB’s pro-life activities website to find trainings, book recommendations and other resources. The secretariat will also provide parishes bulletin inserts, media graphics and even notes and ideas for pro-life focused homilies.
In a letter dated April 26, 2021, Archbishop Joseph Naumann (Kansas City), who is the chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, thanked Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama for Klickman’s participation.
In part, the letter said, “Over the course of the five-part webinar series, they reviewed the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities and received an overview of key areas of ministry, including public policy, pastoral care, education, prayer efforts, abortion healing, and pro-life communication.”
Though policies and communication surrounding abortion is most often the biggest focus and the first thing that comes to mind when discussing pro-life activities, Klickman said that the training and resources reminded leaders that commitment to life is from, “womb to tomb,” and that it includes topics that are detrimental to the dignity of life as well.
“For example, [we discussed] how racism is a life issue. I feel like people know, but it’s worth saying again, it’s not solely about abortion, [pro-life issues] are around the entire spectrum of life,” he said.
Other topics discussed in the training included suicide, the death penalty, bioethics and the environment.