Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Friday

IF YOU GO

Grand Traverse Area Right to Life Memorial Procession

When: Sunday, Jan. 22

Where: Line-up will begin at 12:45 p.m. Sunday at St. Francis Church, 1025 S. Union St. The procession will leave at 1:30 p.m. and arrive at Oakwood Cemetery by 2:10 p.m. A brief memorial service will follow at the cemetery.

For more information, call Grand Traverse Area Right to Life at 946-9469.

Respect Life presentation

When: Sunday, Jan. 22, at 2:45 p.m.

Where: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 720 Second St. in Traverse City

What: The free presentation will include a discussion of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and a talk on divine mercy. For more information, call Respect Life at 944-6937. RSVP to Debra Kendra at 947-5278.

January 20, 2012

Groups mark Roe v. Wade anniversary

BY JAMES RUSSELL jrussell@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — A funeral procession will wind its way through Traverse City this weekend, but the hearse at the front will be empty.

The Grand Traverse Area Right to Life group is organizing the memorial procession Sunday to mark the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. Cars will line up at the St. Francis Catholic Church parking lot, and an empty hearse will lead participants through town to the Tomb of the Unborn at Oakwood Cemetery on Eighth Street. A brief memorial service will follow at the cemetery.

"Because of the somberness of the occasion, and how many babies we've lost over 39 years, we were looking for a new way to honor them," said Carol Tondreau, the group's executive director. "There are so many babies that aren't here ... God had a plan for all of them, but unfortunately that plan was interrupted."

The local Right to Life chapter typically holds an event of some kind to mark the Roe v. Wade anniversary, but the funeral procession is a first for the group. Tondreau said marches are difficult in the winter weather, and rallies limit their visibility.

"This year, we thought it would raise awareness a little more rather than being in one place," she said. She hopes for at least 54 cars to participate, to represent the nearly 54 million abortions since 1973.

Teresa Altman hopes to participate in the procession, but she will be busy planning another event to mark the anniversary. She chairs the Respect Life Apostolate, a group sanctioned by the Diocese of Gaylord, which will hold a presentation that afternoon at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church titled, "Putting Our Lives into the Hands of the Father." It will include a discussion of Pope John Paul II's teachings on the "theology of the body," his vision of the human person integrating body, soul and spirit.

"Jan. 22 ... is important to us. It's really the focal point of a culture of life and death as they face each other," Altman said. "It's important to talk about it, and it's on people's minds on that day."

Altman said Right to Life's procession is an interesting way to tackle the controversial subject of abortion.

"It puts a new perspective on it," she said. "It's helpful in getting people to think about it."

Text Only