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Faithful flock to abortion clinic to pray rosary, recall Fatima
By Joyce Coronel, The Catholic Sun
November 1, 2007
Nearly 70 Catholics from across the Valley gathered Oct. 13 to pray the rosary in front of the Acacia Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in central Phoenix.
Children of the Rosary, the group that organized the event, holds regular prayer services at many of the Valley’s abortion clinics throughout the year.
The mid-October rosary rally drew a larger crowd than usual because it fell on the 90th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima, Portugal.
Jose Ajas, of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, came to pray with his younger brothers and sisters as well as his mother, who is expecting her 10th child.
“Life is a gift that God gives. We wanted to come to give thanks for the family that God has given us and to remember Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima,” Ajas said. “We also want to pray that women will repent and not abort their babies.”
Eileen Mallaire, a St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner and veteran pro-life activist, stood on the sidewalk outside the clinic accompanied by three of her children.
“I came because they’re killing babies,” she said. “We’ve been coming every Saturday through the summer.”
Her 11-year-old daughter, Fiona, echoed her sentiments and held a sign that read, “Honk for life.”
Many of the passing motorists sounded their horns to express support for the prayerful gathering.
Emmanuel Jagdon, a pharmacist and member of St. Timothy Parish in Mesa, tried to persuade a young man standing just outside the clinic’s door to come over and chat.
“Let’s talk, man-to-man,” he called out, but the man’s response was mostly angry curses.
Jagdon said, “I believe life is so precious. People just don’t realize, babies really have no one to defend their rights. It’s a heinous crime, but it seems society doesn’t even think much about it.”
The rosary organizers used walkie-talkies to broadcast prayers through the crowd of participants who ranged in age from the very young to the elderly.
“Let us pray for strong marriages that are open to life,” prayed one of the leaders as he began an Our Father.
Many of those gathered carried signs. A large banner with an image of Our Lady of Fatima encouraged people to pray for an end to abortion.
In 2005, the last year for which statistics are available, 10,778 abortions were performed in Arizona, according to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.
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