When Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin recently described organ donation as an act of love that “transcends death,” the words landed close to home for Michelle Pereira of Sacred Heart Parish in Delta.

Pereira and her husband Jude are looking for a living kidney donor for their 41-year-old son, Josh, who has just nine per cent kidney function due to polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder that affects the kidneys.

Josh is a husband and father of two young boys, and “watching them grow is his greatest desire,” Pereira said. The family’s hope is simple: that someone might come forward, freely and prayerfully, to explore whether living kidney donation is possible.

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As April marks Organ Donation Awareness Month in British Columbia, and April 7 is observed nationally as Green Shirt Day to promote organ donation, the Church’s teaching on the moral goodness of organ donation has taken on urgent meaning for the Pereira family.

Josh has now begun dialysis and the Pereiras hope a living donor might come forward, offering one of their two kidneys for transplant and continuing to live a normal life with the remaining kidney.

“We strongly believe in the power of prayer,” Pereira said. She described Parolin’s comments at a conference on organ donation as consoling and providential. 

“The fact that April is organ donation month will help too. I love that both these factors have come together in such a timely manner.”

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Josh and his father share the same genetic condition. Jude received a kidney transplant 21 years ago from his brother and both continue to do well. That experience has shaped the family’s understanding of what organ donation can mean.

They’ve already shared their situation through their parish under the guidance of their pastor, Fr. Francis Galvan. 

At the same time, they recognize that the process is rigorous and confidential. Any potential donors must contact the transplant team directly, and strict confidentiality rules mean the family is not informed if someone comes forward to be tested.

Social media posts have also been shared among friends and family, an approach suggested by Josh’s nephrologist, who has seen potential donors come forward in other cases simply out of a desire to help. Ultimately, however, any decision rests with individuals in consultation with medical professionals and with full information about risks and procedures.

Josh’s file was recently transferred to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, home to one of B.C.’s leading organ transplant programs. 

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For Catholics, the question of organ donation is not merely medical but moral. The Church’s support rests on informed consent, the protection of life and the dignity of both donor and recipient. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that organ donation after death is a “noble and meritorious act” and encourages it as an expression of generous solidarity. Living organ donation is considered morally acceptable when it is freely chosen and when the physical and psychological risks to the donor are proportionate to the good sought for the recipient.

The April 7 Green Shirt Day was inspired by the story of Logan Boulet, whose organ donation after the 2018 Humboldt Broncos tragedy sparked a nationwide wave of registrations.