FLORHAM PARK Each month Frank Tinari edits his newsletter, “Family and Pro-Life News Briefs for Catholics” to spread awareness on the most important life issues facing the nation.
His newsletter is in parish bulletins throughout the Paterson Diocese and state and on the Diocese’s website. It is also sent via email to those who request it. It features news briefs from several news sources and organizations that focus on life issues whether it be about abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and more. The newsletter also touches upon family life issues such as natural family planning and strengthening marriage.
A parishioner of Holy Family here, Tinari’s latest issue is a reminder about Respect Life Month, which begins today on Oct. 1. He titled this month’s newsletter “Pro-life Hopeful … And Determined.” His wife, Barbara, reviews the newsletter each month with comments, suggestions and corrections before Tinari finalizes each issue. The couple has been married for 52 years.
For more than 30 years, Tinari has been actively involved with promoting Respect Life issues. “I was actually just thinking why I was so involved [in pro-life issues],” he told The Beacon. “I think my concern goes back from how I grew up. I grew up in the Belmont section of the Bronx, N.Y., in a Catholic and Italian home. A respect for life is more of a human rights issue than a religious issue. A mother doesn’t just go and have an abortion.”
For Respect Life Sunday, which takes place this Sunday, Oct. 4, Tinari will be doing a series of talks during weekend Masses at St. John the Baptist Parish in Hillsdale. One message is that he hopes to reach out to those who may have been affected by abortion. “I urge them to seek God’s love and mercy and go to confession. God forgives any kind of sin and the Church offers healing for those affected. I encourage people to do that or look for support through ministries like Rachel’s Vineyard,” said Tinari.
With his wife, Tinari does more than just write and speak about pro-life issues. They not only talk the talk, they walk the walk.
The Tinaris are the parish co-chairs of the pro-life ministry at Holy Family Parish and they actively attend pro-life vigils and rallies to pray for life in the womb and be a voice for the most vulnerable. The couple is participating in 40 Days for Life, which is taking place outside of Planned Parenthood in Morristown to pray for the unborn and the women who enter the abortion clinic. The pro-life vigil will continue to Nov. 1, the Feast of All Saints.
Each year, the Tinaris also coordinate a bus for the March for Life in Washington, D.C. held on or near the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal. In the January issue of his newsletter before the March, Tinari wrote, “It is the whole day, but it sends a powerful message to the nation regarding the dignity of each human life.”
With the U.S. Bishops focusing on pregnant women and moms this year through its “Walking with Moms in Need” year-long service project, Holy Family Parish supports Good Counsel Homes, which help pregnant women in crisis. The parish is hosting a baby shower coordinated by parishioner Patricia McMann to collect baby blankets, baby clothing and other baby items for these mothers who have chosen life and turned away from having an abortion. Tinari thinks this is a simple and tangible way that people can support pregnant women.
Tinari, who earned his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Fordham University, the Bronx, N.Y., is a professional emeritus at Seton Hall University, South Orange, where he taught economics for 31 years. As a community volunteer, he served Florham Park as vice-chairman of the planning board, as a borough council member for 10 years, and as mayor for four years. Currently, Tinari serves as a member of the N.J. Committee on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He is past president of the diocesan Pastoral Council on which he served for many years. He is also a composer of worship music recorded by soloists and choirs on a CD, “If I Ask.” At present, he serves as a trustee for the Legal Center for the Defense of Life; as a trustee of the Life Education Council, and as a board member of LifeNet.
In his email to pastors on the latest pro-life newsletter, Tinari wrote, “This issue for Respect Life Month highlights the importance both of cultural developments and public policy initiatives with respect to life issues. It also includes reasons why abortion looms large in our society.”