This past Sunday I led a group of parishioners downtown to participate in the Rally for Life at Pioneer Courthouse Square. We traveled by chartered bus and joined nearly seven thousand others in peacefully protesting on behalf of the unborn.
This event has been held in Salem, the state capital, in past years but moving it to Portland led to a significantly larger crowd.
As always, I was most grateful for our Archbishop, John Vlazny. He opened the formal program with a prayer and then gave a brief speech later in the event. His remarks were perfectly pitched for the most unchurched state in the Union.
He forcefully made the point, that science, not merely opinion or a particular faith tradition, tells us that human life begins at conception. Therefore, our opposition to abortion is in fact a human rights crusade. Like the abolitionists and Civil Rights activists before us, our Biblical faith, and our American ideals, further assure us that life and liberty are God-given rights and that the God of Life will prevail.
2 comments:
Is Oregon really the most unchurched state in the union? Sometimes it feels like Washington? Perhaps we're a close second...
What an amazing Rally you all had on Sunday -- Thank you for sharing it! Please pray for us, too! A bunch of us Young Adults from our parish leave tonight for SF -- we'll be joining throngs of others (they're expecting b/w 30,000 & 40,000) for the Walk for Life!
Yes, Oregon has that distinction, but I believe Washington is indeed right there along side us!
Hope you had a safe trip and that the Walk for Life was a great success!!
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