SHOUTS of anger at those involved in a prayer campaign outside a Bowen Hills abortion clinic are to be welcomed, a priest has said.
Noosa District assistant priest Fr Michael Grace, who has been involved in the 40 Days for Life campaign since its inception four years ago, said participants have also reported “as many or more calls of support from passing motorists”.
“Both reactions are important,” he said.
“Any sort of reaction rather than apathy to the issue is desirable.
“Perhaps the person who is angry will later be led to think about the issue and change their opinion.
“We’ve had this happen and in fact some supporters were once in this category.”
Fr Grace also described opposition to abortion as being similar to opposition to the slave trade “where a number of people were apathetic or accepting of it until a few brave people stood up in opposition”.
He and one of the campaign’s main organisers Brendan Wong spoke of a change of focus in the 2012 campaign.
“We have database of 500 people and are now looking at building relationships with these people,” Mr Wong said.
“The plan is to speak to each of these people individually rather than through group emails.
“Part of this involves finding out why they got involved in the campaign in the first place.
“They’re surprised then pleased to be contacted in such a personal way.”
Fr Grace said “as a result, greater involvement had been seen in events held in the lead-up to the campaign”.
Cherish Life Queensland (CLQ) state president Teresa Martin has also been involved in the 24-hour-a-day prayer campaign which runs for the 40 days of Lent.
She prayed outside the abortion clinic from midnight to 2am on Ash Wednesday and that night from 10am to midnight, her normal roster for the campaign.
Sometimes she kneels in prayer on the ground outside the clinic.
Her encounter with a Japanese youth has already provided a memorable “faith moment”, Ms Martin said.
“Two Japanese young men came up and one of them, presumably a Catholic, asked in halting English what I was doing.
“He also wanted to know the identity of the place in front of which I was standing.
“When I told him he closed his eyes, turned around to face the abortion clinic, blessed himself, thanked me, then walked off.
“He did this so respectfully, so beautifully.”
Ms Martin said “such moments, which always happen during these campaigns, probably do more for my faith than theirs”.
Fr Grace said his involvement with the 40 Days for Life campaign stemmed from his belief in the Gospel.
“If you believe in God’s love for all His people, especially the most vulnerable, you can’t help but get involved,” he said.
“This is a social justice issue, where the rubber really hits the road.
“It’s not just the baby and the mother affected but the nurses, doctors, grandparents, the father – the whole process is a disaster for everyone involved.
“Praying in front of the abortion clinic is going to the coal face of the issue, as it were.
“As a society, we shouldn’t accept this is the way things are.
“Basically readily available abortion has only been accepted for the past 40 years since the Roe versus Wade decision.
“Abortion is an aberration historically.
“Those of us opposing abortion, and the liberalisation of laws relating to it, are not only on the right of the argument, but have the vast majority of human history and opinion on our side.”
Those wishing to join the 40 Days for Life prayer campaign can contact Brendan Wong on (07) 3149 3289.
