Newspaper Page Text
The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Savannah
Vol. 100 No. 21 Thursday,October 15, 2020 Put Faith in Your Opinions southerncross-sav.org
Members of Chattahoochee Valley United for Life held signs and waved miniature American flags during their Life Chain celebration on Veterans
Parkway in Columbus, Ga., Sun. October 4. Photograph by Donnell Suggs
Pro-Life stance reaffirmed by
activists prayerfully bearing witness
to the value of every life
BY DONNELL SUGGS
COLUMBUS, GA. - Retired
United States Army Senior
Analyst and professor Jose
Manuel Marrero, a veteran
of 31 years and countless
tours of duty both foreign and
domestic, prowled the small
patch of grass he was stand
ing on while addressing the
20 people assembled on the
northbound side of Veterans
Parkway in Columbus.
Marrero was the featured
speaker of that afternoon’s
Respect Life Sunday Life
Chain. Though he was in
the company of like-minded
souls, he felt it was necessary
to passionately describe why
he and they were standing
on the street corner Sunday,
October 4. “I see this as
an historic moment,” said
Marrero. The beeping horns
and sometimes cuss words
from the passersby would not
distract him from making his
point. “This is the moment,
feel the passion, feel the
sense of urgency. If not now,
then when? If not you, then
who?” he asked rhetorically.
“Tell me.”
Marrero was speaking of
the efforts being made all
around the country and world
in defense of life by the Life
Chain participants most were
parents and grandparents,
and others there in support.
“Engage, you can do a lot
by talking to people,” added
Marrero. “All you have to
do is show the big C’s: con
viction, commitment, and
compassion.”
If there was something the
people assembled in the shade
of the trees lining Veterans
Parkway had it was the big
C’s. Life Chains were being
conducted all over the Diocese
of Savannah Sunday, includ
ing in Savannah at Daffin
Park, in Augusta, Bainbridge,
Hazlehurst, Macon, and in
Tifton, to name just a few.
The numbers coming back
from those Life Chain events
have been, on the positive
side with 142 people attend
ing the event in Savannah
according to organizers, 33 in
Springfield, 50 in Macon, 25
in Vidalia and 85, an all-time
high, in Warner Robins.
“We want to thank everyone
who came out to one of the
many Life Chains we had
throughout the diocese,” said
diocesan Director of Marriage,
Family and Respect Life
Jayne MJ Stefanic. “We had
record numbers at all loca
tions, silently praying, giving
witness to the sacredness
of all human life. With the
current political sphere and
the many loud voices in our
society, the silent and prayer
ful majority have shown that
God’s love and mercy will
See LIFE page 4