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MOCK GRAVEYARD — John Shomaker, pro-life chairman at Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Carrollton, stands beside the
* cemetery he made with 4,400 tiny wire crosses representing the
number of babies aborted each day in the U.S.
Missionary Will Conduct
Smyrna Healing Service
, LaSalette missionary
Father Albert A. Fredette
will conduct a healing ser
vice at St. Thomas the
.Apostle parish in Smyrna,
Sunday, Feb. 18 following
the 6 p.m. Mass
All are invited to the ser
vice for healing mental,
spiritual and physical ills.
Father Fredette will also
preach at each of the
"weekend Masses.
“There’s no magic in
healing,” the priest points
,out. “It takes the good will
of a person with faith and a
community of believers
who are joining together.
.The person who is praying
over someone else has no
power. There’s only one
source for it. If a person is
-healed, the Lord is doing
it.”
During a healing service,
Father Fredette lays his
"hands on the one asking for
healing and prays silently
or aloud. He is a vessel, he
explained, through which
Father Fredette
can pour a “spiritual radia
tion that brings life to the
cells.” -
Father Fredette has
served as director of the
Pastoral Care department
at St. Vincent Medical
Center in Toledo, Ohio,
where he supervised the
Clinical Pastoral Educa
tion program and coor
dinated healing ministries.
He is co-founder of the
Association of Christian
Therapists, an interna
tional organization whose
members are professionals
in health care and who in
corporate prayer in their
healing profession.
Father Fredette, who has
a doctorate in pastoral
ministries and counseling,
was the association’s first
president. For the past 14
years he has conducted
workshops and healing ser
vices in the U.S., Canada
and the Philippines.
St. Thomas the Apostle is
located at 4300 King
Springs Road in Smyrna.
Mass Honors
Women,
Youth
Parishes who have
chosen an outstanding
woman and outstanding
young person will have
their honored people
recognized at the
Cathedral of Christ the
King Feb. 17.
The annual recognition
day, sponsored by the
Atlanta Archdiocesan
Council of Catholic Women,
will be marked by a Mass
at the Cathedral celebrated
by Archbishop Eugene A.
Marino, SSJ. The parish
women and youth are
special guests and honored
individually.
The Mass will be
celebrated at 10 a.m.
Preaching Workshop
Scheduled For Priests
* The LaSalette Community of Atlanta has invited priests
of the archdiocese to join them at a workshop on preaching
to be led by Father John Shea, author, poet and lecturer, on
Thursday, Feb. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Ann’s
Church in Marietta.
Father Shea’s most recent books are The Spirit Master,
on theology, and The God Who Fell from Heaven, poetry.
He has lectured both in this country and internationally
and is chairperson of the Systematic Department and direc
tor of the doctor of ministry program at Mundelein
Seminary of the Chicago archdiocese. He has also taught at
the University of Notre Dame and Boston College.
He received his licentiate and doctorate in theology from
Mundelein Seminary.
PAGE 11 — The Georgia Bulletin, February 8, 1990
Villa Rica Man Creates
"Cemetery Of The Unborn"
BY CAROL NELSON
There are no flowers in John Shomaker’s
cemetery—only row on row of tiny crosses
standing in mute witness to the war on un
born children that is called abortion
“1 did this project,” Shomaker says,
“because I wanted to bring home to people
the magnitude of the abortion problem ’
“Abortion has taken more lives than all
the wars in our country’s history,” the
Villa Rica man added. “It is the leading
cause of death both in our state and in our
nation.”
His “project,” as he calls it. is a mock
graveyard in which he has placed one
cross for every baby aborted each day of
every year in the United States. The 4,400
crosses, cut from wire fencing, each
measure about one-quarter inch by half
inch and cover an area four feet, eight-
inches by two feet, nine-inches.
Behind the plywood platform in which
the tiny crosses are set stand three panels
giving comment on the graveyard scene.
To the left is a chart of handpainted
crosses showing casualties from each war
in American history, from the Revolu
tionary War to Vietnam, a total of
1,206,860. Directly below this is a similar -
chart representing the 26,000,000 unborn
children killed by abortion in the last 17
years.
“A war against the innocent is a terrible
thing!” is the comment written beneath
this chart.
Centered in the right-hand panel, sur
rounded by Biblical quotes, is the picture
of a baby aborted at five months gestation.
“Father forgive them, they do not know
what they are doing,” is written below this
picture.
The middle panel bears a legend con
cerning the cemetery—red crosses repre
sent abortions performed in the last tri
mester of pregnancy, blue for second tri
mester, and white for first trimester.
Below the legend is a large picture of Jesus
mourning over an aborted baby held in his
hand.
Shomaker got the idea of making a
“cemetery of the unborn” after having
participated in a similar display on a
larger scale at Washington, D.C., last
spring.
A parishioner and chairman of the pro
life committee at Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Catholic Church in Carrollton, he had
wanted to place a full cemetery of large
crosses on the church property. That
would have taken up too much space, so he
and fellow parishioner Chuck Pease put up
26 crosses (one for each million abortions*
alongside the church cemetery instead
But Shomaker still couldn't shake the
idea ot somehow constructing a cemetery
of the unborn.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I had to
keep working on it.”
He next tried making the crosses out of
toothpicks, but even they were too big.
“They would have taken up about twice
the space, which would have made the
display too hard to transport,” he said.
Then he got the idea of using wire fenc
ing material and began cutting crosses
from a five by three foot piece of it. He was
helped in this monumental task by his
stepsons, Bernard and Eric Hall, and by
his expectant wife, Edith. Mrs. Shomaker
gave birth to a daughter in January.
Shomaker said that he would be happy to
bring his display to any group that would
like to see it. He can be contacted at (404)
459-4668.
Legion Curia Meets
The West Georgia Curia of the Legion of
Mary held its annual reunion Jan. 27 in
Carrollton.
Monsignor Michael Regan, pastor of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Car
rollton, spoke. Hazel McGovern, president
of the curia and also president of the Queen
of the Holy Family Praesidium at the Car
rollton parish, welcomed the group.
Our Lady Queen of Angels Praesidium
was host for the reunion held at Shoney's
Restaurant in Carrollton.
SEMINARIANS — The two young men studying for the archdiocese
at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla., are
shown with Very Rev. Joseph Cunningham, rector-president, center.
At left is Michael Allison, who is studying at the III Theology level,
and Greg Pocock, a I Theology student.
Charges Dismissed Against Jesuit
Father John Sweeney, SJ, arrested Jan.
19 for protesting aid to El Salvador at the
Omni after President George Bush ad
dressed a homebuilders’ convention there,
had the charge against him dismissed in
Atlanta Traffic Court on Feb. 1.
Father Sweeney, who is studying at
Candler School of Theology at Emory
University, was charged with failing to
obey instructions of an officer. He was ar
rested after unfurling a large banner
reading “Bush Arms Terrorist Govern
ment in El Salvador” while the presiden
tial car was driving away from the Omni.
Traffic Court Judge George Lawson
presided at the trial.