Women in History: Servant of God Ruth Pakaluk’s Pro-Life Witness

Kathie Scott-Avery shares her introduction to Catholic convert and pro-life activist Servant of God Ruth Pakaluk for Holy Women's History Month.

More Than a Coincidence

My recent encounter with Servant of God Ruth Pakaluk seemed purely God-incidental. Our church pro-life committee hosts an annual open house coinciding with EWTN’s March for Life coverage. As significant as the broadcast is, it’s typically muted by louder face-to-face conversations, and I inevitably miss some important updates. However, I happened to hear a commentator mention a new-to-me name. Curious, I jotted down “Ruth Pakaluk, sainthood?”

An internet search afterward revealed that Ruth and I had grown up less than five miles apart. Had she been raised Catholic instead of Protestant, we might have met each other at church!

But our paths were different. In fact, Ruth, a straight-A student, enrolled in Harvard University as a pro-choice atheist. There, in contrast to the distressing trend of students losing their faith in college, Ruth found hers. By sophomore year she was actively searching for more. So too was Michael Pakaluk a cradle-Catholic-turned-skeptic she met. Soon after graduation, Ruth — now married — converted to Catholicism while her husband formally reclaimed his Catholic heritage.

For the next 18 years until her death from cancer at age 41, Ruth lived that commitment faithfully and fruitfully as wife, mother, and avid spokesperson for the truth. Her most notable accomplishments were in pro-life advocacy, including ventures that branched into education, politics, media, public debates, Church leadership, and varied private correspondence. In 2025, she was officially recognized as a Servant of God whose life is currently under review for canonization.

Already she has boosted my resolve to know, love, and serve our Lord and His Church better.

Knowing God

Despite being disillusioned with the faith of her childhood, Ruth chose to systematically look for the God of Christianity rather than prematurely reject Him. She began by reading the Bible, praying, and reflecting on her daily activities to see how they compared to the ideals proposed by Christianity. Yet Ruth didn’t succumb to the trap of simply learning about God. Instead, she sought a relationship.

That extended to the Church too, as she reflected on and entered discussions about the reasoning behind Catholic teaching, particularly on current issues such as abortion and contraception. As her faith matured, her God-seeking practices became more structured and defined.

Like Ruth, I love continually learning about our faith, and I admire her intuitive inclination to link what she was learning with habitual accountability. Her example challenges me toward increased discipline and greater focus on building the relationship with God, such as through more intentional periods of silence as well as more frequent Confession.

Loving God

Two aspects of Ruth’s love of God stood out as ways in which I can improve.

One was her appreciation of all that was good, true, and beautiful. Amid earthly hassles, she recognized and celebrated God’s gifts, including the capacity to appreciate them. Even when facing the prognosis of mere months to live, she remarked on the goodness of this world and how Heaven, created for eternity by the same God, must be more wonderful.

The other was her trust in God. She knew with certainty that His plan would be the best, simply because He authored it. To be sure, she wasn’t living a fairy tale. Rather, she actively chose to look for, find, and rest in God’s presence, come what may.

Serving God by Serving Others

Finally, Ruth’s knowledge and love of God combined to yield unrestrained energy and passion: an inspiration for me to serve more willingly, boldly, and bravely.

Her list of public accomplishments is remarkable, especially considering that all fell within the span of 18 years while simultaneously tending to her primary vocations as a wife and a mother of seven, not to mention eight years of intermittent cancer treatments. Graced with administrative, organizational, and communication skills, she placed all at God’s service without seeming to guard her time or waver over capabilities. Yet she wasn’t a workaholic! She practiced and professed the need for true rest, especially as opposed to idle distractions.

Her passion was also exemplary. She didn’t just join; she founded. She didn’t shrug off misinformation; she addressed it. One courageous example: At a presentation where the speaker and clergy were grossly in error about some critical Church teachings, she not only spoke up, but also followed up with a respectful letter to the bishop, urging improvements to priestly formation.

Such a fruitful contemporary model of holiness could be intimidating. Instead, Ruth Pakaluk inspires a committed openness to continually find ways of better knowing, loving, and serving God and His Church.

Learn More About Servant of God Ruth Pakaluk

To discover more about Ruth Pakaluk, visit RuthPakaluk.com, or read the book edited by her husband, The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God: The Story of Ruth Pakaluk: Convert, Mother and Pro-Life Activist. It is available directly through the publisher, Ignatius Press, or from Catholic bookstores.

Servant of God Ruth Pakaluk, pray for us

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Copyright 2026 Kathie Scott-Avery
Images: (banner) Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo; Photo published with permission from the Ruth V.K. Pakaluk Foundation