Regional rally and march for life coming to Le Roy on Jan. 25, coincides with National March for Life in D.C.
Press release:
Pastors and volunteers from three different churches in Le Roy have come together to plan a pro-life rally and march on Saturday, Jan. 25th coinciding with the National March for Life in Washington, D.C., the same weekend.
The event is open to churches and pro-lifers throughout the Western New York region to come and make a public statement that there is no more fundamental right than the right to live.
The event will kick off at 11 a.m. at the gymnasium of the parish center, located at 44 Lake St. in Le Roy, with music, brief speakers and videos, displays and information from organizations that support families after childbirth. That one hour rally will then transition to a respectful and peaceful march through village streets in Le Roy.
The event was organized after Fr. Matthew Phelan of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Pastor Jack Hempfling of Living Waters Church and Pastor Roger Piger of Calvary Baptist Church attended a meeting of pastors in Buffalo who are pulling together to confront abortion.
“There is a movement there to support pregnant women and new mothers, to curb the devastating abortion rate in that city (a rate so high that the African American community is not even replacing itself),” Hempfling said.
“After that meeting in Buffalo, we started asking one another, why not bring this issue to the local level? Fr. Matthew offered to host a rally at Our Lady of Mercy, Pastor Roger was onboard, so the rally and march quickly took shape.”
“Since Roe v. Wade, well over 61 million children have been aborted in the USA. That is 10 times the number of people killed by Nazis in the Holocaust, and it’s the equivalent to the entire populations of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Louisiana combined!” Pastor Hempfling noted.
These local pastors agree with this statement: “This is not an onslaught that can be harnessed just by laws and court rulings, although those are so important. This issue requires a heart change in our culture. That’s why we believe that the national marches need to be expanded to the grassroots, local level.
"And we want to declare in the name of Christ that there is healing and support for those who have in the past or currently find themselves in the frightening situation of an unplanned pregnancy.”
