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Where are the Catholic Leaders?

Church Leaders Pray in front of Planned Parenthood on Roe v. Wade Day

BY ALLYSON SMITH

As a half-dozen police officers looked on and airliners streamed just feet overhead, approximately 100 pro-lifers participated in a candlelight vigil at Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties' abortion mill at First and Grape Streets downtown on Thursday evening, January 22 to mourn the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Sponsored by West Hills Christian Fellowship in El Cajon, the vigil included pastors and congregants from churches throughout San Diego County as well as live Christian music. Speeches, prayers, and hymns were amplified by portable loudspeakers set up on the public sidewalk in front of the center located in a mostly residential area known as Banker's Hill. One participant strolled the sidewalk dressed as the Grim Reaper.

Inviting fellow pastors to kneel on the sidewalk, West Hills pastor Gary Cass said, "We don't come here with our fists clenched. We come here to bend our knees and to humble ourselves before God. I'd like to ask us to show some humility before the Lord and contrition for the sin that's been taking place in our city on our watch...."

Cass continued, "Planned Parenthood in San Diego in the year 2000 killed over 7,000 babies. If you do the math, over 100 children a week are being killed within the walls of this building. The blood of innocent children flows through the drains and the sewers of the City of San Diego and is a reproach to Almighty God."

Other pastors then took turns praying at the microphone. Adlai Mack, pastor of Christians United in the Word of God Church of San Diego, thundered, "Lord, may You come down upon this city and this county and shut down every abortion clinic, shut down every house of sin, and make our house a house of prayer devoted to You."

Pastor Richard Smith of El Cajon's Fruit of the Spirit Church of God in Christ said he was deeply saddened as he stood in front of "San Diego's Bergen-Belsen, the county's Auschwitz, our own Dachau."

Other churches represented included Skyline Church in La Mesa; New Birth Christian Fellowship, City Church Ministries and Church on the Rock in San Diego; Calvary Chapel San Diego in Chula Vista; and Grace Bible Church in Escondido.

Escondido resident and West Hills Christian Fellowship congregant Frank Dawson said he was attending the vigil because, "We are guilty of sins that we don't oppose. We're culpable for the sins that are being committed, and this is one of the heinous acts that we have let happen because we have turned away from God. We really don't have a clue, I don't think, of what real Christianity is [now that] several generations have fallen away."

Kristen Shawhan of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon came to the vigil, despite being eight months pregannt, "because I believe that life is precious and that we should try to do anything we can to let others know that not only is an innocent child being hurt, but so are women and young girls."

For Landon DeForge, 11, of Foothills Christian Fellowship and his mother Joanna, the event was their first experience with pro-life sidewalk activism. "We learned about it through our church bulletin," Joanna said, "and we decided to come, to step out of the box and do something. It just is wonderful, but it brings you to tears. I definitely want to do more."

The vigil was also a first for Catholic twin sisters Dr. Patricia Baehr and Dr. Merri McMahon. Said Dr. Baehr, "We need our Catholic leaders here. Where are the Catholic leaders?"

Added Dr. McMahon, a cardiologist, "At my church, Saint Joseph's Cathedral, during the intercessions they will say a prayer for the unborn and for the people who perform abortions, but that's it. To me, that is very minimal. There is no proactive stance. There are no leaders to guide us like Alan Keyes. If we could just get Alan Keyes out here."

"It's sad because we're both physicians," said Dr. Baehr, who attends North Island Naval Chapel. "I've dealt with a lot of couples who really want children. I'm in family practice, so I see a lot of them. I'd refer them to the OB-GYN for infertility, and then they'd do all this experimentation to try to get pregnant. And yet, you go down the street and they're killing the babies. It's just ironic. It's crazy."

A few blocks away from Planned Parenthood, the Shield of Roses pro-life apostolate based at Our Lady of Grace parish in El Cajon held a concurrent prayer vigil in front of the Family Planning Associates abortuary at 2850 Sixth Avenue. Approximately 25 people attended, according to director Anne Fitch-Dececchi.

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