DIOCESAN NEWS
01/20/12
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Knights of Columbus continue
pro-life activities across Mississippi
By Dennis & Muna Riecke
JACKSON — It is not clear when the Mississippi State Council of the Knights of Columbus began statewide pro-life efforts. We do know we had a state pro-life chairman before 1990. In that year, Antoine and Betty Otto were named the State Pro-life Couple.
They encouraged councils to hold pro-life activities such as prayer vigils, fundraisers for crisis pregnancy care centers, and sponsored life chain events.
In the mid-1990s the Greenwood council constructed 4,400 small wooden crosses which at that time represented the number of abortions each day in the United States. These were displayed at 22 locations throughout the state for the next 10 years. Viewing these displays helped people grasp the daily toll of abortion in the United States.
One such display adjacent to an abortion clinic in Gulfport led to the closure of this clinic. Several headstones called “Tombs of the Unborn” were place on church grounds throughout the state and one was placed at the Mississippi Welcome Center near the Mississippi-Alabama border along Interstate 10.
Knights of Columbus members worked with the Mississippi Right to Life to hold pro-life rallies at Smith Park and at the State Capitol in Jackson. They held rallies at the abortion clinic on Terry Road and organized prayer sessions at the last clinic remaining on North State Street, both in Jackson.
Recently several councils have constructed 154 crosses to display with a sign stating that these crosses represent the number of abortions per hour in the United States.
In 2006 Dennis and Muna Riecke became the state pro-life couple.
Knights of Columbus councils focus their pro-life efforts in assisting local crisis pregnancy centers by raising money for them or donating supplies and infant clothing items.
The Greenwood council funded billboard advertising for Birthright of Jackson for many years. The Jackson area councils of the Knights of Columbus sponsored seven Grilling for Life Barbeque Competitions from 2004-2010. These events raised over $25,000 which was donated to a variety of pro-life organizations.
In 2000, members of the Madison Council 9543 offered a resolution to establish a Mississippi Memorial Pro-life Fund and the membership voted to approve the resolution.
Since 2000, donations by Knights of Columbus Councils, Ladies Auxiliaries, Assemblies, the Mississippi State Council and individuals have totaled over $59,000. These funds are provided annually to our two Catholic bishops to use for diocesan pro-life efforts.
In 2009 the Knights of Columbus created a separate pro-life program activity designation. This requires councils to complete at least four pro-life activities each year to be eligible for state council and supreme council program awards.
As we approach the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade court ruling let us recognize the pro-life cause is much more inclusive than merely working against abortion and capital punishment.
Each of us can be pro-life in the following ways: become a blood, platelet or organ donor, visit and volunteer at nursing homes, sponsor a foster child in a developing country, use a pro-life affinity credit card, pray for an increased respect for human life, use pro-life checks and a pro-life phone provider, invest in Catholic mutual funds, boycott companies that donate to Planned Parenthood, vote for pro-life candidates.
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