Mother Loraine Marie Maguire and the Little Sisters of the Poor will receive the 2016 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal in the spring, the University announced in a press release Oct. 5. The award honors individuals who have supported and advanced the pro-life movement.
O. Carter Snead, the William P. and Hazel B. White Director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, stated in the press release that the work and witness of the Little Sisters of the Poor “embody the goods at the heart of the Evangelium Vitae Medal. Their unwavering defense of the unborn in the HHS mandate litigation alongside their longstanding work to care for the elderly poor offers a beautiful and powerful witness to the unique, inviolable dignity of every person, from conception to natural death. Their work is a testament to the radical solidarity and hospitality at the core of the Gospel of Life.”
The Little Sisters of the Poor are an international organization of women religious whose mission is to assist the elderly poor. The congregation operates in 31 countries and includes 30 homes in the United States. These homes support more than 13,000 low-income seniors by providing health care and assisted living services.
“In 2012, led by Mother Loraine, the Little Sisters of the Poor became the face of religious nonprofit organizations struggling against a federal mandate to facilitate access to contraceptives and drugs that, according to FDA labeling, may function by causing the death of newly conceived human beings,” the press release stated.
According to the press release, the Evangelium Vitae Medal consists of a specially commissioned medal and $10,000 prize, which will be presented at a banquet that will be held on Notre Dame’s campus in April.
