'Well done, my good and faithful servant. . .
Come, share your master's joy.' --Matthew 25
Father Paul Marx, O.S.B., was often referred to as "the father of the international pro-life movement" and was called an "Apostle of Life" by Pope John Paul II. Fr. Marx traveled over three million miles visiting all 50 states and 91 countries in his over 40 years of pro-life advocacy to defend the sanctity of human life.
Fr. Marx was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1947 by the Order of St. Benedict. After nearly two decades on the faculty of St. Johns University, he was permitted by his order to dedicate himself to the fight for life and family full-time. Seeing the advance of anti-life forces before most did, he founded the Human Life Center in 1971, two years before Roe v. Wade, at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. In 1981, the Human Life Center became Human Life International (HLI), the world's first and largest international pro-life organization. Fr. Marx was president of HLI until his retirement in 1999.
Fr. Marx held a Doctorate in Family Sociology from the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He authored over one dozen books, including The Death Peddlers: War on the Unborn (1971), Death Without Dignity: Killing for Mercy (1982), Confessions of a Pro-Life Missionary (1988), Fighting for Life (1989), The Flying Monk (1990), The Warehouse Priest (1993), and his autobiography, Faithful for Life (1997).
President Ronald Reagan once wrote in a personal letter to Fr. Marx saying, "You can be proud of all you've done to summon this Nation and others to reflection and positive action on issues affecting the sanctity of human life. God bless you."
Fr. Marx left us to be with the Lord on March 20, 2010, just short of his 90th birthday. Known to friends and colleagues almost as much for his sense of humor as he was for his passion for truth and justice, he liked to point out that he was born 10 days before the late Pope John Paul II, who once said to him, "You are doing the most important work on earth."
PRESS RELEASE: HLI Mourns Loss of Founder, Fr. Paul Marx
Fr. Marx's obituary from St. John's Abbey
Spanish-language Tributes to Fr. Marx
The Pro-Life Wisdom of Fr. Marx
Statements from pro-life leaders - Fr. Marx's friends, colleagues, collaborators:
Go to HLI's Facebook page to leave a short tribute to Fr. Marx
Fr. Marx audio online: "The World Sex Mess Confirms Catholic Teaching"; "Abortion: Legacy of Contraception"
On the Passing of Fr. Paul Marx by Claude Newbury
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