Ohio bishop leads rosary outside Planned Parenthood abortion facility

The bishop of Columbus, Ohio, joined local faithful Oct. 13 for a vigil outside a Planned Parenthood abortion facility, leading the Rosary for the preborn and their mothers as a part of the 40 Days for Life campaign. 

Bishop Earl Fernandes gathered with diocesan staff, Greater Columbus Right to Life staff, and volunteers for the campaign organized by the international pro-life organization 40 Days for Life, according to an Oct. 15 report from The Catholic Times, the diocesan newspaper. 

“We were so overjoyed to have Bishop Fernandes and curial staff join our volunteers this morning,” Beth Vanderkooi, president of Greater Columbus Right to Life, told the outlet. “It is a beautiful continuation of the bold pro-life leadership he demonstrates, and I pray his witness encourages more of our fellow Catholics to join us.”

The biannual pro-life campaign, which continues through Nov. 1, combines prayer, fasting, and community outreach with a peaceful presence outside abortion facilities.

The group spent an hour in prayer outside the facility in Franklin County, where an average of 12 abortions are committed daily, The Catholic Times reported, citing data submitted to the Ohio Department of Health.

Leslie Baab, who has offered women support and alternatives to abortion as a sidewalk counselor since 2013, also joined the vigil. She recalled a mother who decided against abortion after seeing people outside the facility and who has described her son, now 7, as the light of her life. Though volunteers may not immediately see the fruits of their efforts, Baab told The Catholic Times that they “plant seeds.”

Bishop Fernandes has also called on Catholics to defend preborn children and accompany their mothers, a responsibility he emphasized in a message featured on the diocese’s pro-life ministry webpage.

“God has called us to be a People of Life. The need to build a Culture of Life will take time and patience,” he said. “It will encounter resistance; nevertheless, we cannot abandon unborn children and their mothers.”

The bishop emphasized that the Church’s responsibility to mothers and children remains even when legal protections fall short.

“Law may refuse to recognize the dignity and right to life of the child in the womb, but we cannot be indifferent to the reality,” he wrote. “When Mary visited Elizabeth, the child in her womb recognized the Presence of the Savior and leaped for joy. The Church wishes to acknowledge and defend the rights of the unborn child, while accompanying mothers in their time of need and during what should be a joyful time of their lives. May we rise to meet our responsibility, grateful for the gift of life we have received.”

Mary Kristof, associate director of the diocese’s Office for Pro-Life Ministries, also participated in the vigil.

“Praying outside of an abortion clinic can be daunting because, in a very real way, we are confronted by the fact that unborn children are being killed so close by,” Kristof told the outlet. 

She emphasized trust in God and the hope of helping mothers and their children.

“As Christians, we are called to be courageous and to provide hope even in the darkest of circumstances,” she said. “Our prayerful witness shows that we have not surrendered to the world but that we have surrendered all things to God — and that we hope to help women and children no matter what the circumstances.”