One hundred fifty-seven candles were lit Jan. 21 at the Requiem Mass for the Unborn in Los Angeles --- each marking one child that had been aborted on average per day in Los Angeles County in the year 2005. That is three candles fewer than those lit two years ago at the annual Mass, held near the anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision paving the way for abortion on demand.
And while the reduction may seem slight, it corresponds to a gradual change in attitudes toward abortion, said Cardinal Roger Mahony, who presided at the Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. He said that the efforts of the faithful over the past 32 years "have born a lot of fruit" in their effort to "change hearts and then change minds."
"Increasingly, as polls are taken across the country, fewer and fewer people are in favor of unlimited abortion," he said. "That number is creeping down to close to 52 percent. It used to be in the 70s."
He said he also sees a "greater weariness and unhappiness" in laws passed by legislators and decisions by courts that do not have principled substance. He said that now, politicians are not only talking about the right to abortion, but they are also "talking about alternatives like adoption and bringing the baby to full term."
He said that he believes the change is a result of "prayer and sacrifices of all who are praying for a change of hearts and minds."
He said that he believes that people need to continue praying, but they also need to get involved by writing their legislators and congressmen and also serving in pregnancy centers or homes for single women who are pregnant, adoption agencies or volunteering at pro-life offices.
"There is nothing more powerful in the entire pro-life movement than the aspect of prayer," he said. "Everyone can pray, regardless of age." He especially recommended praying the rosary, "one of the most powerful pro-life prayers we have."
Ecumenical and interreligious faith leaders from the Buddhist and Mormon communities, Syrian Methodist church, the Assembly of God and the American Islamic community were among the 1,500 in attendance at the Mass, which drew Catholics from throughout the archdiocese.
The following day, pro-life advocates gathered downtown for a March For Life and/Life Chain rally. The event was sponsored by the Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Life Issues and Hispanics for Life.
Diana Hernandez of Our Lady of the Valley Church, Canoga Park, said children who have been aborted are the "unsung story of life." She believes the Requiem Mass for the Unborn helps find a voice for them and also for their parents, grandparents and relatives who mourn their loss --- often many years later.
"It is quietly happening all over the place," she said of women who have abortions. "It is a hidden hurt and sadness, and this allows people to start that healing process in different stages of their lives.
Kathleen Nichola, in campus ministry at Louisville High School in Woodland Hills and a member of the Mass planning committee, hope to attract even more youth and young adults to the Mass.
"I believe that they are the generation that this has to serve," Nichola said. "I believe it is the high school students that we have to get to."
Three generations of the Gonzalez family --- daughter Vianeth, mother, Maria and grandmother Maria --- attended the Mass from Holy Trinity Church in San Pedro with their friend Ava Madrigal. "We came to the Mass to pray for life, to support life," said Vianeth.
Carlos Fernandez is not Catholic, but he came with his toddler-aged daughter and his parents.
"I think it is good to show that that I think the majority of people don't approve of abortion," he said. "It doesn't have to be yelling and screaming, we are just here to say that we care."
At the end of Mass, the church was darkened and 157 people of different ages and nationalities carried the candles to the front of the church creating a horseshoe shape around the front of the altar. Since 1973, Cardinal Mahony said, 40 million unborn children have been killed, approximately 1.3 million every year.
The cardinal said that the reasons that most women give for having abortions --- inconvenience, careers, college or to keep a boyfriend --- stem from fear of the unknown or the unseen. "All are justifications, very weak justifications, for abortion," he said.
He said though the reality of abortion is grim, people who understand the atrocity must also see signs of hope that he said "are many." The evening's first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, notes that "the souls of the just are in the hands of God," which the cardinal said brought him hope. He believes that the unborn children are with God.
"Is it not possible that their prayer --- their intercession with God --- might in fact help bring about an end to the slaughter?" Cardinal Mahony said. "That is very possible." |