Utah Catholics organize prayers to end abortion

Friday, Sep. 18, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY  — Pro-life efforts in the Diocese of Salt Lake City are underway as Respect Life Month approaches.

On Sept. 12, local pro-life advocates joined the third annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children by gathering at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Salt Lake City to pray for the unborn and for the respect of life.

“A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will raise up throughout the world…,” said Pope John Paul II in the Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae).

The event’s timing was providential due to recent release of the Planned Parenthood videos that “have broken our hearts” with their depiction of the sale of body parts from aborted children, said Nancy  Sliwinski, a St. Ambrose parishioner who helped organize the event.

Father Christopher Gray, a diocesan priest, was the speaker at the event. He emphasized the fact that nowadays the world  worships the culture of death and not the culture of life.

Saying that his personal opinion has been formed by his background, Fr. Gray acknowledged that some present at the gathering know his mother, Maria Cruz Gray, director of the diocesan Office of Hispanic Affairs, “but perhaps you don’t know that in 1982, when she was pregnant with me, her nurse at the clinic at the Air Force base suggested that she have an abortion because of her age.”

Maria Cruz Gray, feeling insulted and disrespected, made a formal complaint that led to a recommendation that the word “abortion” be used with great discretion in Air Force clinics, Fr. Gray said. 

Citing some shocking statistics, such as that worldwide this year 28,474,350 abortions (and increasing every minute) have been performed, 766,915 of them in the United States, Father Gray said that he feels that he has not said enough about the holocaust that the world has become.

“There are many ways that we can find to excuse ourselves, to do nothing, about the great evil of abortion. … There are quite a bit of matters in this sense that can’t also be ignored: the advance of this law (abortion), the erosion of marriage, the assaults on the innate value of human sexuality as if it were a matter of choice, that are now infiltrating our Catholic schools; and this to say nothing of the fact, that as a priest, I am convinced that there are some people that call themselves Christians that believe that a Sunday celebration is optional, … who put the dignity of animals above the dignity of the imprisoned, who put the dignity of the imprisoned above the dignity of those who seek refuge, and that ultimately put the dignity of man above the dignity of the angels,” said Fr. Gray, adding that divine justice was what brought everyone together that day.

“Abortion is not an abstract issue,” said Mary Hamshire, a Saint John the Baptist parishioner who attended the event. “Having a memorial service where some of these babies are buried reminds us that abortion is not merely about beliefs, but about bloodshed; not just about viewpoints, but victims.”

In other pro-life efforts in the diocese, the Utah Knights of Columbus are working to establish a constant pro-life vigil in front of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Salt Lake City.

“The objective is to have people with signs in front of the location every hour that they are open,” said Dominic Jones, chairman of the Utah Knights of Columbus Pro-life Committee.

He is asking people who would like to participate in this effort to contact him at jonesd@xmission.com

“Why participate? Quite simply, this is a straightforward way to save lives. Our presence is an effective way to change minds, hearts and outcomes,” said Jones.

Also, to mark Respect for Life Sunday,  which this year is Oct. 4, people are invited to join the annual Life Chain that every year gathers pro-life supporters at the intersection of State Street and 10600 South in Sandy. Signs will be provided for participants; children are welcome at the event.

For information about the Life Chain, see the Facebook event Life Chain 2015 SLC or email callieoppedisano@gmail.com. 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated October as Respect Life Month; the Life Chain is one of the pro-life activities throughout the month.  For information, visit www.usccb.org/respectlife.  

“We live in a society of unbelief, where the unborn, the sick, and the elderly are often unwanted and endangered by acts of violence or neglect. … Despite these challenges, Pope Francis reminds us that we always have hope in Christ,” said  Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Boston and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in a Respect Life Sunday statement. 

“Let us open our hearts and reflect on how God might be calling each of us to witness the sacredness of human life and assist in pro-life efforts,” the statement continued. “We may be called to help parents welcome their unborn child as a miracle of God’s creation, to visit the elderly or aid those who are sick and suffering, to pray and fast for life, to advocate to our elected officials, or to assist educational efforts in our parishes.”