Faithful gather for a candlelight vigil outside Morgentaler abortion facility. Photo by Deborah Gyapong / CCN.Movement growing stronger, says participants
By Deborah Gyapong
The Canadian Catholic News
OTTAWA (CCN)--The fifth Ottawa 40 Days for Life prayer vigil ended Nov. 6 with signs the movement is stronger than ever.
Twenty-six parishes or groups participated in the vigil outside the Morgentaler abortion facility on Bank St. –otherwise known as “Ground Zero”— making it a 20 per cent increase over the last campaign. It also marked the first time the Bible was read out loud during the campaign.
“You did it!” Deacon Chuck Fink told hundreds gathered at St. Patrick’s Basilica for Vespers, followed by a candlelight march to Ground Zero to mark the vigil’s end. “You proclaimed the entire Bible from cover to cover!”
Each day, for two hours straddling the busy noon hour, the Bible was read out loud with the help of a microphone and speaker set up at the site.
“It takes courage and faith-filled conviction for a lay person to proclaim the word of God in one of the busiest places of Ottawa at one of the busiest times,” Deacon Fink said. “Where the Word of God is, God is, and when His Word is proclaimed the evil one will flee offering the prayer warriors greater peace during their time of prayer.”
“Even though the Word was only proclaimed for two hours a day, from what I am told this was likely the most peaceful campaigns we have ever had,” he added. “No one was assaulted and at no time were police needed to intervene. Have any babies been saved during this campaign? We don’t know, but God does.”
At Vespers, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast spoke of Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate that stresses respect for life cannot be detached from human development. The Pope knows that acceptance and openness to life “strengthens moral fibre,” he said, and can help wealthy cultures such as Canada’s better understand the poor.
Following Vespers, several hundred people filed two by two for a silent candlelight procession to Ground Zero, through the streets of downtown Ottawa. There, Father Adrian Sharp, a priest from Brisbane, Australia studying canon law at Saint Paul University, read the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation to complete the proclamation of the Word of God.
40 Days for Life is an international campaign that began in the United States and has taken place in 240 cities in all 50 states, five Canadian provinces and cities in Europe and Australia.
