OTTAWA, Ontario, April 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadians need to “recover a sense of outrage” over the immense tragedy of abortion in their country, says the Catholic Organization for Life & Family (COLF), a joint initiative of the Canadian bishops and the Knights of Columbus. Colf made the comments in a message for May 12th’s National March for Life on Parliament Hill.
“Let us be filled with an outrage that results in concrete action on behalf of unborn children and their mothers, who are so often left with no support,” the organization writes. “To begin, let us walk together in the National March for Life. Make your way to Parliament Hill on May 12!”
The theme of this year’s annual march, which has become the largest annual gathering on Parliament Hill, is “Abortion Kills a Human Being.”
COLF says the March’s theme “confronts us with an inescapable scientific fact,” namely that a new human life is created at the very moment of conception, “when a sperm fertilizes an egg and a genetic code is instantly formed.”
“How can we remain silent or indifferent?” they ask.
The message notes the devastating results of an Ontario study released this spring, which suggested that over 60% of teen pregnancies in the province end in abortion and that the overall number of abortions is vastly greater than the official figure from StatsCan.
“We pain at the thought of so many human lives being rejected and destroyed in a country that likes to think of itself as civilized,” COLF writes. “And at the thought of the silent – and forbidden – suffering of so many women and mothers of today and tomorrow.”
They praise those “brave women” who have testified to the reality of post-abortion suffering – physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual – and quote late Pope John Paul II, who called post-abortive women to embrace hope and healing and seek repentance.
“With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone’s right to life,” the pope, who will be beatified this Sunday, said in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (n. 99).
COLF calls on Canada’s elected officials to act to protect the unborn, highlighting surveys that show a “growing number” of Canadians, as much as 66%, favor some legal restrictions on abortion. “Our Members of Parliament must take notice!” they declare.
The events surrounding the March for Life begin Wednesday, May 11th, with prayer services and Masses at various churches in the area and a Candlelight Vigil at the Canadian Human Rights monument at 9 p.m.
A noon rally before the march on Thursday, May 12th will feature speeches by pro-life Members of Parliament, as well as religious and pro-life leaders.
That evening there will be a Rose Dinner featuring a keynote address from David Bereit, national director of the 40 Days for Life. A Youth Banquet takes place at the same time with an address by Catholic missionary Mario St. Francis, followed by the day long youth conference on May 13th.
See COLF’s message ‘Recovering a Sense of Outrage and True Compassion’ here.
For more information on the National March for Life and tickets visit the March’s website.