CHARLOTTE — God’s “amazing grace” was the theme of a “Silent No More” anti-abortion campaign outside one of Charlotte’s three abortion facilities July 30.
In the shadow of Family Reproductive Health on East Hebron Street, where approximately 2,000 babies are aborted each year, about a dozen pro-life activists gathered to tell their stories of past involvement in abortion, and how they found healing and forgiveness from God and their families.
The national Silent No More campaign aims to reach out to those hurting from abortion, help them seek healing, and to educate others that abortion is harmful – physically, emotionally and spiritually. Speakers praised God for His mercy and the peace they have found through healing and forgiveness.
“The prayers and cries of so many people trying to reach out to help, the intercession for these people in this place, day after day and year after year, has been a testament to the love of Jesus Christ, to many that have come here, to many that have driven by this area. Yet (abortion) continues,” said Katherine Hearn, one of the event organizers and Silent No More campaign activists. “Today we have decided to bring our voices and testimonies to the battlefront.”
Hearn said she had an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in 1976. “I went alone because I was so embarrassed and ashamed. It was a day that changed everything in my life.”
“I put my abortion in the closet and I closed and locked those doors,” she said. “Yet God never left me, even when I left Him.”
Calllie Jett testified that she nearly had an abortion at 16. Pro-life literature and sidewalk counselors outside the Planned Parenthood clinic where she was waiting for her abortion are what saved her.
Jett said she had thought abortion would be an “easy way out,” but sitting in the lobby of the abortion clinic, she recalled, “After an emotional battle, I found the strength to walk out of that abortion clinic that day.”
Instead, Jett turned to the sidewalk counselors, who helped her get medical care, a home and a job, and an adoption plan that she was confortable with. She praised pro-lifers for their public witness, and she encouraged abortion-minded women to pursue adoption instead.
“No person grows up to expect to choose abortion,” she noted. “Whatever situartion you may be in, give yourself and your baby choices. There are people outside the abortion center who truly want to help you.”
Robert, who didn’t give his last name, talked for the first time about his participation in an abortion. At 19, he learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. When his girlfriend told him she wanted an abortion, he recalled, “I gave it 30 seconds of thought and just said, ‘OK.’ It was that easy. How sad it that?”
Now married 25 years with a family of his own, he has turned his pain and regret into activism for the pro-life cause. But the self-examination and healing continues, he said, even after receiving the sacrament of reconciliation and sharing his past with his wife.
“Jesus paid the debt that I owe. I love Jesus for that,” he said, adding tearfully, “I regret the abortion of my child, whose soul awaits me in heaven and wants me to know that I am forgiven. I pray God may bless you and continue to reveal His love and fill you with His amazing grace.”
Paul Deer noted that it can be frustrating for pro-life witnesses to continually come out to abortion mills, seeing the parade of women and men going inside to kill their children. Too many people either don’t want to know the truth or they defend “this abomination,” he said.
But, Deer emphasized, “We are not called to win this battle, but to fight it. The battle has already been won. It’s been won on the cross.”
More than 40 years after the legalization of abortion, Hearn concluded, “the silence is deafening.”
People must continue to offer their testimony of the pain that abortion causes, she insisted, to help others who are still wounded. And they must continue to give thanks to God for His “amazing grace.”
“It must begin here,” she said. “We must never leave this place until this place of death is one day a haven of life.”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, Editor‘I’m sorry’ anti-abortion campaign launches
Charlotte pro-life activists have started a web-based public awareness campaign for those who regret their past involvement in abortion. The “I’m sorry for my involvement in abortion” campaign aims to give voice to the many people who feel sorrow for their participation in abortion and enable them to seek healing, especially during the Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy.
More information is at www.imsorrycampaign.org. For inquiries, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
GREENSBORO — St. Paul the Apostle Church took a tradition of being active in North Carolina’s Triad and took it global in 2000.
A group of parishioners felt the calling to do more, which prompted them to propose an initiative to extend charitable giving internationally. After several brainstorming sessions and an extensive search, the committee found a Catholic parish with which it felt the parish could establish a mutual understanding of culture, lifestyle and worship differences.
In December 2001, the parish adopted Niño Jesus in Manta, Ecuador, as its sister parish – establishing a 2,500-mile bond between North American and South American Catholics that has fostered greater understanding and solidarity.
Niño Jesus consists of a main church and 16 chapels spread over a large rural area, serving more than 50,000 Catholics.
According to Colleen Assal, pastoral associate at St. Paul the Apostle Church, the parishes exchanged an initial series of letters to get to know each other.
Customs were explained, local happenings were announced and a mutual appreciation of their cultural differences grew, Assal said. A new St. Paul’s ministry grew out of the need for Spanish-speaking volunteers offering translation services.
As the friendship between the parishes developed, the financial needs of Niño Jesus were considered, and assistance has been offered. Since 2001, St. Paul parishioners have raised enough money to install an irrigation and water purification system, as well as to set up a health clinic and remodel three food kitchens for Niño Jesus. Also, the Greensboro parish has provided wheelchairs and hearing aids to Niño Jesus parishioners in need.
In 2002, the Greensboro parish began a scholarship program which has benefitted nearly 250 students. Sponsors annually donate $150 for primary school through high school-aged students, or $180 for university students. The scholarships pay for books, clothing, transportation and other needs. Sponsors and students exchange photographs and letters, and personal relationships often grow out of these sponsorships.
According to Assal, some families maintain contact with now-graduated former students, while continuing to sponsor another student. She added that the students are inspired to work hard and achieve good grades, knowing there is a family supporting them both financially and spiritually.
About once a year, St. Paul’s parishioners travel to Ecuador. Two mission trip visits by parish teens have also taken place. Niño Jesus priests and parishioners usually visit North Carolina every other year, staying with host families. A pen-pal program for children, a Christmas card exchange and quarterly newsletters enable parishioners to maintain relationships.
Assal says having connections with these families illustrates that “the Church is bigger than our parish, or diocese or country.”
Last spring, a devastating earthquake and subsequent aftershocks rocked Ecuador. The main church of Niño Jesus was spared all but minor damage, yet major repairs were necessary for the chapels, food kitchens and some parishioners’ homes. St. Paul parishioners quickly raised about $27,000 to send to their Ecuadoran brothers and sisters.
Father Joseph Mack, pastor at St. Paul Church, is in contact with the pastor of Niño Jesus regarding the aftermath and cleanup. Some parishioners, who receive updates through Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp from the families of the students they sponsor, said the Niño Jesus families are doing well and proceeding with rebuilding.
“Through our Sister Parish program,” said Assal, “we have learned that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, called through baptism to live a life of discipleship, loving and serving God and our neighbors, the world over.”
— Jennifer Krawiec, Correspondent
Learn more
St. Paul the Apostle Church’s Sister Parish program is a parishioner-driven ministry supported by the clergy since its inception. The Sister Parish core team is willing to help parishes that have questions on how to get started with their own sister parish program. Call 336-294-4696 during weekday office hours, and staff will answer questions or connect others with church members involved.