For the second year, the Diocese of Richmond is holding an essay & video contest in honor of Respect Life Month in January to raise awareness around the dignity of the human person and to build up a culture of life! The video contest is for middle school, high school, and college undergraduate students. The essay contest is for high school students only.

The theme this year is: "Humanae Vitae...50 Years Later"

“There is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication. But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a ‘sign of contradiction’.” (HV, 18)

Reflect on a recent cultural experience, event, or movement from the last year. Then, put that event or idea in conversation with the passage above from the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae and ask: "How does the Church stand as a sign of contradiction today?"

Video submission will open on November 30, 2017 and remain open until January 15, 2018. Voting will remain open until January 22, 2018. Get all the information and enter the contest today!