Rachel's Vineyard is an American organization offering weekend retreats for women who have had

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s and for others, including men, who believe that they have been hurt by abortion. It is named after

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

in the Bible, who weeps "for her lost children". Rachel's Vineyard is funded by

Priests for Life Priests for Life (PFL) is an anti-abortion organization based in Titusville, Florida. PFL functions as a network to promote and coordinate anti-abortion movements, anti-abortion activism, especially among Roman Catholic priests and laymen, with t ...

and has a broadly

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

ethos with a

Catholic Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...

celebrated as an integral part of the retreat, but also runs non-denominational retreats for non-Catholics.

History

In 1996, Theresa Karminski Burke started one of the first therapeutic support groups for women who had had abortions. Later, she founded Rachel’s Vineyard, together with her husband, Kevin Burke. Burke's ''Rachel's Vineyard: A Psychological and Spiritual Journey for Post Abortion Healing'' (written with Barbara Cullen) was published in 1994 as a support group model for counselors helping women with post abortion grief. Four Rachel's Vineyard retreats were conducted in 1995 and by the end of 2002 over 130 had been held. In 2003, Rachel’s Vineyard was reorganised and became a ministry of Priests for Life, with

Frank Pavone Frank Anthony Pavone (born February 4, 1959) is an American anti-abortion movement, anti-abortion activist and a Loss of clerical state (Catholic Church), laicised Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic priest. He is the national director of Pries ...

as the Pastoral Director. A retreat is generally designed for about a dozen clients and a priest and a licensed therapist are typically present. In June 2002, Burke and

David Reardon David C. Reardon is an American electrical engineer and anti-abortion activist. He is the founder of the Elliot Institute, an anti-abortion advocacy group, and the author of a number of articles and books on abortion and mental health. Reardon ...

published a book titled ''Forbidden Grief'', a review of Burke's experience in counseling women for abortion-related emotional problems. In 2003, Bernadette Goulding founded the Irish chapter of Rachel's Vineyard, and in 2011 founded Women Hurt, a similar organisation, with less focus on Catholicism. As of 2014, Rachel's Vineyard held over 1,000 retreats annually, in 48 U.S. states and 70 countries. Rachel's Vineyard retreats are hosted by church based ministries, counseling outreach programs, Project Rachel offices, Respect Life groups, and

crisis pregnancy center A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC) or a pro-life pregnancy center, is a type of nonprofit organization established by anti-abortion movement in the United States, anti-abortion groups primarily to ...

s. They are offered in both Catholic and interdenominational settings.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.rachelsvineyard.org Anti-abortion organizations in the United States Anti-abortion movement in the United States United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

History

See also

References

External links