A record number of cities will take part in this fall’s campaign.
By Dan McWilliams
The fifth annual 40 Days for Life prayer campaign will take place this fall, and—as it did in the previous four—the Diocese of Knoxville will once again have a leading role.
A record total of nearly 300 cities, including Knoxville and the Tri-Cities, will hold prayer vigils outside abortion clinics and other events in support of the right to life. The cities represent 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and several Canadian provinces and foreign countries, with some 46 first-time cities participating. The 40-day campaign will run from Wednesday, Sept. 28, to Sunday, Nov. 6.
More than 400,000 people nationwide have taken part in 40 Days for Life prayer and fasting, according to the national 40 Days website. A total of 13,000 church congregations have participated, and 4,313 lives have been reported as spared from abortion, the website stated. Fifty-three abortion workers have quit their jobs and 14 abortion facilities have completely shut down after local 40 Days campaigns, according to the website.
In Knoxville, the vigils are set for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the 40-day period at a location that will soon be determined. A kickoff event is planned for 8 a.m. Sept. 28.
Paul Simoneau, director of the diocesan Office of Justice and Peace, is co-director of the diocese’s 40 Days campaign with Lisa Morris of Sacred Heart Cathedral. He has advice for someone who may be thinking of participating in an abortion-clinic vigil for the first time.
“The first thing I would say is don’t be afraid,” he said. “Many people are intimidated that this is about pushing limits and maybe think back to the 1980s when Operation Rescue was gearing up, but this is completely law-abiding and non-confrontational. This isn’t about yelling or being provocative in our manners, nor about pushing limits. This is about being prayerful and peaceful and being a quiet witness to the gospel of life.”
The diocese, which also participates in a spring 40 Days campaign on the Fridays of Lent, was part of a much smaller 40 Days roster of cities when the fall campaign began nationwide in 2007.
“There were approximately 80 cities in the United States in I think 37 states” in 2007, said Mr. Simoneau.
Parishes can sign up for an entire day’s vigil in Knoxville. As of press time, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City had reserved Sept. 29 and Nov. 4. Mr. Simoneau encouraged individual volunteers to sign up for a vigil slot, including tough-to-fill times such as the early-morning hours or midday, even if it’s just for an hour or two.
“It’s the presence, it’s the witness, it’s our prayers that are so helpful, and the sacrifice of being out there when it’s hot and rainy and when it starts getting colder toward the end of October and the beginning of November.”
Those not taking part in a vigil may become involved either by fasting or by praying for those at the vigils, according to the 40 Days website.
“We realize that not everybody is able to participate in standing vigil outside the clinic, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a part in this,” said Mr. Simoneau. “Certainly the acts of mortification, the prayers and sacrifices for the unborn and for those scared young women, unwed or married, who are fearful—these prayers and sacrifices are not wasted. In fact they’re tremendously beneficial and certainly to be lauded and commended.
“As Bishop Richard F. Stika reminds us, we have that biblical mandate to look after the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner, and who are the new widows and orphans of our time but those unwed mothers or single women whose boyfriends have abandoned their responsibilities both to the child they helped to conceive and to the woman who’s bearing that child? They are our new widows and our new orphans.”
Conspicuously absent from diocesan 40 Days observations is Chattanooga, which has no abortion clinics at which to hold vigils. The site of the last Chattanooga abortion clinic to close is now home to the National Memorial for the Unborn.
“Chattanooga is the largest city in the nation that is without a Planned Parenthood clinic or abortion clinic,” said Mr. Simoneau. “That’s a legacy that they’ve been a guardian of for nearly 20 years, since they closed down the last clinic there, and that certainly represents for us a city of hope. Of course, their victory is one that continues to fuel our hope here in Knoxville and the Tri-Cities area.”
Catholics and Protestants alike have been praying for the closure of the Bristol (Tenn.) Regional Women’s Center at 2901 W. State St.
Mr. Simoneau encourages Catholics “from all our churches throughout the diocese” to assist with the Bristol vigils “if not with your presence, then with your prayers, your mortifications, and your sacrifices on behalf of the unborn and those women—whether they be married or unwed—who are dealing with the fear of untimely or unwanted pregnancy and are tempted to give into that fear.”
To sign up for a vigil or learn more, visit www.40daysknoxville.com. To volunteer to assist with the Knoxville vigils, contact Mr. Simoneau at 865-584-3307 or psimoneau@dioknox.org or Mrs. Morris at 567-1245. The coordinator for the Bristol vigils is Linda Edwards, who may be contacted at 423-477-0774 or edwards724@earthlink.net. Vigil spots may also be reserved at www.40daysforlife.com/tri-cities.
“I need volunteers. I need people who will help with the set-up and the tear-down of the vigil site every day,” said Mr. Simoneau. “People who can be there before 7 o’clock in the morning to help set up every day, and the same in the evening. We need a new cadre of people who want to become involved and want to take a more pronounced role in assisting us in this campaign.”
All of the volunteers can help the vigil participants reach their goal, said Mr. Simoneau.
“Who’s to say whether in the future a chapel of the Holy Innocents will be built in Knoxville on one of the three sites where abortions are conducted, or that we will have another national memorial for the unborn like they have in Chattanooga, where women can seek healing and closure from the abortions they’ve had? It can be truly a place of healing rather than a place for the taking of life.”
Tags: 40 Days for Life
