Bishop Stika leads the prayer for life at the Knox facility.
By Dan McWilliams
More than 300 of the faithful joined Bishop Richard F. Stika for a rosary in front of an abortion clinic in Knoxville on Jan. 16, six days before the 37th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
A long line of East Tennessee Catholics of all ages stretched for 100 yards or so along the sidewalk across from Volunteer Women’s Medical Clinic on Concord Street.
The bishop said he was “very pleased” with the turnout. “This is the first time we’ve organized this, and we have people here from different places in the diocese. We have priests here, deacons, young people and not-so-young people, and seminarians.”
Among the hundreds praying were 15 priests of the diocese, several deacons and Sisters of Mercy, and seminarians Dustin Collins and Michael Hendershott. Those traveling the farthest included Father Michael Cummins of the Catholic Center at East Tennessee State University, Monsignor Philip Thoni and Father John O’Neill of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade, and Father John Appiah of Notre Dame in Greeneville. Father Jay Flaherty of Holy Cross in Pigeon Forge brought a group in a van to the rosary.
Bishop Stika and Paul Simoneau, director of the diocesan Office of Justice and Peace, spoke to the gathering before the rosary.
“So many years ago a group of individuals, powerful as they were, made a decision about the right to privacy,” the bishop said. “Who would have thought that because of that one decision, we’d have 45 million abortions–plus here in the United States?
“So I always invite folks to pray for our nation, to pray for our president and Congress, that they might have the wisdom to make sure that all the people in this country, born and unborn, have the right to life.”
The bishop held up a rosary blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1999.
“Anytime I visit Rome, I always lay it on his tomb—John Paul, who talked to us about the culture of death and the culture of life,” said Bishop Stika. “As we gather together, in some ways I believe John Paul is present with us.”
“Some might think what we’re doing this morning is kind of silly,” he said. “We’ve got a bunch of beads, and we’re praying the rosary, saying the same prayer over and over and over again, but all I know is my mother, [whose ancestors are] from eastern Europe, used to pray for the conversion of Russia through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. The Soviet Union doesn’t exist anymore.
“So we continue to pray and place in God’s hands our nation, place in God’s hands those who are contemplating abortion, and place in God’s hands those who have had abortions and pray for God’s mercy on them.”
The bishop gave a reflection before each decade and asked that a priest, a deacon, a married couple, and Mr. Simoneau lead the prayers for each decade. Father John Dowling of St. John Neumann in Farragut led the first mystery, followed by Deacon Gordon Lowery of Holy Trinity in Jefferson City, Lisa and Robb Morris of Sacred Heart Cathedral, and Mr. Simoneau. Mrs. Morris is a lay associate of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life.
Bishop Stika plans for the rosary in front of the clinic to be an annual event near the Roe anniversary “until we don’t need to do it because the country will have gotten some sense.”
Praying a rosary for the Soviet Union was a response to the wish of the Blessed Virgin in her apparitions at Fatima, in which she asked the three visionaries to pray for the conversion of Russia.
“That was around the time that Lenin took control of the Soviet Union,” the bishop said, “and it became a country that was antagonistic not only to the Catholic church but also to faith and to God. So people around the world started praying for the conversion of Russia. Looked what happened just 20 years ago: the Soviet Union fell apart, and the Orthodox church is blossoming in Russia. Prayer is a powerful tool.”
Wes Lott of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville assisted with this article.
Tags: Knoxville pro-life rosary, Volunteer Women’s Medical Clinic
