Americans have grown increasingly frustrated with a dysfunctional political system that is seemingly incapable of addressing society's most pressing problems. True reform cannot occur until we recognize that it is not just our political system that is broken. It is not simply our economy that is sick. The culture of death is what ails us, and nothing short of a comprehensive return to holiness and to a re-ordering of society to empower families and reinvigorate communities will prove equal to the challenge we confront.

In short, we must build a Culture of Life. Legal reform is necessary, but is insufficient. Academic, legal, media, and policy institutions that resist reform must be replaced with institutions that comprise a Culture of Life. By fostering an online community devoted to this mission, by devoting resources to special projects aimed at reinvigorating the connection between faith and civic life, and by providing financial assistance to those who have identified a strategic vision but do not yet have the means to implement their contribution to a Culture of Life, we pray the WitnessWorks Foundation will facilitate the works of many faithful families, lay apostolates, and Church institutions attempting to build -- and to live in -- a Culture of Life.