Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / Catholics, others, join in annual Life Chain
Catholics, others, join in annual Life Chain
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published October 12, 2007
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Participants in Life Chain Sunday hold signs in prayerful reverence alongside Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills on Oct. 7. From left: St. Clare of Assisi parishioner George Boloakn, his pastor Fr. Frederick Klettner and Joann Ruessman, also of St. Clare. |
Farmington Hills — On an unseasonably hot fall day, many Catholics and other people concerned with the sacredness of unborn human life lined the roads in metro Detroit and around the country, bearing signs with their convictions.
The Oct. 7 event, called Life Chain Sunday, focused on the right to life of a child, and the compassion Christ has for those who have been impacted by abortion. Locally, Life Chains were scattered across the Archdiocese of Detroit, from Monroe to Lapeer, Detroit to Belleville, and more than two dozen other locations.
"Jesus forgives and heals" read one sign, held by St. Clare of Assisi parishioner Joann Ruessman.
"We're hoping to make people more aware of Jesus in their life," said Ruessman, who joined her pastor, Fr. Frederick Klettner, and others on Orchard Lake Road near Twelve Mile. "If they come closer to God, then abortion is not an issue. We want to remind them that God is still in the world."
The vigil took place on busy roadways. The event is meant to be prayerful and reverent. The signs — which were approved by the National Life Chain organization, based in Yuma City, Calif. — also displayed messages such as "Abortion kills children," "Abortion hurts women," and "Adoption: The loving option."
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Rita MacCulley, a parishioner at St. Aidan in Livonia, holds a sign promoting adoption over abortion during the Life Chain. |
"Man is made in God's image," Fr. Klettner said. "We want to keep the image of our dignity alive, and the idea that life is important from conception to natural death. … It's good to give witness in the public square that life is important."
Rita MacCulley, a parishioner at St. Aidan Parish in Livonia, said her convictions about life compelled her to share the message with others. A mother of six, MacCulley had lived through the deaths of a son and a daughter, and her husband, Robert, who had been a deacon in the Church.
"I would hope that somebody would look at this (sign) and say 'I don't need to kill this child,'" MacCulley said. "You're not asking questions, and you're not putting it in everyone's face. It's just a thought — and maybe a passing thought would make the difference."
Many drivers passing by the roadside vigil briefly honked their horns or waved in support. Few gave negative reactions, too.
For the most part, said Brent Hayer, who helps organize Life Chains as well as rosary vigils in front of abortion clinics, people do believe in an unborn child's right to life — but few people make it a passion in life.
"This is what will help us win the battle," said Hayer, a parishioner at Prince of Peace Parish in West Bloomfield Township, "the rosary, using the sacraments, and making the right to life a mission in our lives."
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