January pro-life events planned in Sacramento,
San Francisco

By Catholic Herald staff

 

Several pro-life events are scheduled this month in No. California. Bishop Jaime Soto will be the main celebrant of the annual pro-life Mass on Friday, Jan. 22 at 12:10 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at 1017 11th St. in Sacramento.

 

The Mass in reparation for the sin of abortion is held annually to mark the date of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton which legalized abortion.

 

The Mass will be preceded by a convening of student leadership from junior high and high school levels in the diocese as well as adult chaperones and Catholic school teachers attending workshops about the culture of life.

 

Bishop Soto has invited Catholics in the diocese as well as all people of good will to join together for fasting, abstinence, prayer and works of charity on Jan. 22 as day of reparation for “the sinful national scourge of abortion.”

 

In a Dec. 22 letter to parishioners in the diocese, the bishop said as a guide to those who are able to fast on that day, it is recommended that those fasting limit themselves to one full meal. Those choosing to abstain may refrain from eating meat that day or from anything that is normally consumed as part of one’s daily routine.

 

He added that works of charity are particularly encouraged, such as helping at a food distribution center, visiting the sick or imprisoned, or assisting at shelters for women in need and families.

“Through our acts of penance and works of charity on this day, we will express our desire to restore a culture of life and a civilization of love in this country so marred by the court decision of Roe v. Wade as well as other acts of violence against the innocent,” the bishop said.

 

The annual Walk for Life West Coast will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Justin Herman Plaza on Market Street in San Francisco. The three-hour event will conclude at Marina Green where there will be a “Silent No More” gathering and an information fair. Prior to the beginning of the walk, an 8 a.m. Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, located at 1111 Gough St.

 

Following the event at 7 p.m. on Jan. 23 there will be a young adult Walk for Life after party at St. Dominic Parish hall, located at 2390 Bush St. Young adults are asked to pay at $5 cover charge to attend. Last year’s Walk for Life drew over 30,000 supporters to rally and proclaim that “Women Deserve Better than Abortion.”

 

The first Walk was organized in 2005 by Bay Area residents Eva Muntean and Dolores Meehan, both volunteers at a non-profit care home in Pacifica for HIV/AIDS patients. Muntean and Meehan decided to organize the Walk for Life in San Francisco to remind pro-choice women with problem pregnancies that there are options besides abortion.

 

The featured speakers at the beginning of this year’s rally will be Abby Johnson, former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas; Lila Rose, president of Live Action, a college pro-life organization; Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church; and the Rev. Clenard Childress, founder of the pro-life Web site, www.Blackgenocide.org, an outreach to the African American community.

For more information about the Walk for Life event, visit the Web site at www.walkforlifewc.com.

 

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