THANK YOU CINCINNATI! The Cincinnati ProLife Committee is
very grateful that three hundred prolifers attended
our 28th
annual ProLife Rosary Procession. Talk
about ice! My phone
kept ringing from people
wondering if we would cancel. We
march for life
doing public penance praying the Rosary in cold,
wind, sleet, snow, but this was a first with all
the ice on
driveways and sidewalks.
We never
cancel!
People were grateful for our shuttle service between Fountain
Square and City Hall. We started a little late,
after 11 AM,
because our own emcee, former OH
Rep. Tom Brinkman
has a steep driveway he
had to negotiate. He read the March
for Life
Education & Defense Fund national award winning
high school poem by Regina Shawhan of
Waynesville, Ohio,
Our Unquestionable Gift,
because she is one of our own!
She also won
1st place in 2010. Fr. William Jenkins
acknowledged
that her younger sister, Mary Margaret Shawhan,
is the 2012 runner up! He commented that
probably two
sisters winning out of 750 entries
is a first for MFL! They are
former students at
Immaculate Conception Academy, and
are now
homeschooled. They have eight brothers and a
little sister. Of course, they were not at our
Cincinnati
prolife event, as they were traveling
to Washington, D.C.
for the march of hundreds of
thousands on Monday, the 23rd,
and to be honored
at the Rose dinner at the Hyatt Regency
on
Capitol Hill Monday evening.
Fr. Joseph Greenwell thanked
members of the clergy and the
Knights of
Columbus, Elder Council, for coming. Then
Fr.
Greenwell led us in prayer for Our Church
and Civil Authorities and
blessed the statue of
Our Blessed Mother on the bier carried by
several men in the Rosary Procession. Fr.
Jenkins, pastor of
Immaculate Conception
Church, told the solemn crowd that we are
in a
spiritual warfare and praying the Holy Rosary
against abortion
is a form of exorcism. The
procession's route was mostly on 7th
St. to
Main, then on 6th to Race, and ended at 5th and
Vine at
Fountain Square about noon. Men used
audio equipment to guide
us through the
Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries of
the
Rosary commemorating the life of Our Lord
and Savior
Jesus Christ.
An intrepid famiy, the Reists of Hamilton, greeted the
chilled
crowd with hot coffee/chocolate and
doughnuts. Mr. Brinkman
introduced Teressa
and Felicity Kenny of Lebanon, who got
everyone's attention with their own pro-life
song! Former OH State
Rep. Seth Morgan, of
Dayton, who is also with the Conservative
Coalition and a host of 55KRC Think Talk
Radio on Sunday
afternoons gave a gripping
speech. He emphasized that there
cannot be
liberty without respecting life. He also
acknowledged our
spiritual support for those who
have had abortions. Prolife groups
do not
condemn. He also emphasized the need for us to
support
the Heartbeat Bill.
Each year, we honor someone in the prolife movement. Fr.
Greenwell
presented Jane Hoffman of Pregnancy
Center East with
a lifetime achievement award
plaque. Dick
Hammersmith accepted the
award for Jackie Carney of
Pregnancy
Center East, as she is in Florida. As a
counselor at PCW
for a dozen years, I described
what a privilege it was to serve
under Jackie
Carney, that PCW is a Christian pro-life
ministry
providing education of positive
alternatives to abortion, assistance
with
pregnancy related services, and programs to
encourage chaste
lifestyles.
Julie Busby,
of Dayton, member of the Heartbeat Bill strategy
team and former OH Rt. to Life board member,
spoke about the
need for activism to persuade
the OH State Senate to pass the
Heartbeat Bill.
She likened our efforts to David fighting
Goliath!
She explained that the bill says that once a heartbeat is detected
in
an unborn child, it will be illegal to abort
it in the state of Ohio. It is
estimated that
it will save approximately 26,000 lives a year.
The
bill passed the OH House of Representatives
54-44 last June. She
asked us to PLEASE help by
calling our State Senators to
bring the bill up
for a vote and to go to
heartbeatbill.com
for
information.
The Cincinnati Enqurier, published a photo of the
Rosary
Procession with a caption about our
speakers on the bottom of B7.
The very next
page in the Sunday paper is Obituaries! How
appropriate. This is a call of action from me,
personally, I am not
speaking for the
committee. ANYONE READING THIS SHOULD
WRITE A
LETTER TO THE EDITOR THAT A BABY BEING ABORTED
EVERY 22 SECONDS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE
SNAIL'S PACE
OF OHIO'S ROAD SYSTEM!!! That was
the main topic on the front
page of the LOCAL
section B. Or write whatever you want to focus
on, i.e. isn't it news that despite an ice
storm, 300 people marched
downtown for life?
The above article and opinions are from
Joanne Kemmerer, a
Cincinnati ProLife Committee member.
The 2012 ProLife Award recipients are:
Jackie Carney and Jane Hoffman
Past ProLife award recipients include:
Katie Walker
Chris Monzel
Ray & Joan Loebker
Bob Cetrulo
Steve Chabot
Joanne Kemmerer
Joe Scheidler
Tom Brinkman
Cinny Roy
Mark Harrington,
James Condit Sr., and Tom Condit
Ed Donohoe
Past Cincinnati ProLife Committee Rally
speakers:
Ohio Sec'y. of State, Ken Blackwell
OH State Rep., Tom Brinkman
NKY Right to Life President, Bob Cetrulo
U.S. Congressman, Steve Chabot
Catholic Charities of Arlington, Katie Walker
Hamilton Cty. Clerk of Courts, Patricia Clancy
Ed Donohoe of Pregnancy Center East
Midwest Director for Bioethical Reform, Mark
Harrington
Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati President, Jack
Hart
Hamilton Cty. Commissioner, Phil Heimlich
City Councilman, Sam Malone
Cinny Roy of HEART
City Councilman, Chris Monzel
Joe Scheidler of the ProLife Action League
U.S. Congresswoman, Jean Schmidt
OH State Rep., Michele Schneider
OH State Senator, William Seitz
Exec. Director Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati,
Paula Westwood
City Councilman, Charlie Winburn
Click here
for videos of our 2011 speakers.
Congratulations to Meg Witman, the winner of
the 2012
giveaway drawing for the all-sterling silver
rosary!
Cincinnati ProLife Committee
PO Box 12506
Cincinnati, OH 45212
www.CincinnatiProLife.org
info@CincinnatiProLife.org
Donations are gratefully accepted.
|
