Many of Newfoundland’s pro-lifers rallied together on Oct. 25 for “Red Sky at Night” — an annual day of reflection, inspiration and strategizing. The event, sponsored by Campaign Life Coalition Newfoundland and Newfoundland Right to Life, brought together many front-line workers in the pro-life movement and boasted several stirring talks and presentations by some of the country’s most prominent pro-life leaders.
Guest speakers at the conference included Archbishop Martin Currie of St. John’s, Dr. Dolores Doherty, president of Life Canada, Dr. Clem Persaud, a microbiologist and bioethics specialist, Patrick Hanlon, president of Right to Life Newfoundland, and Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition.
The day began with reflections from Archbishop Currie on the suffering Christ as He continues to be made manifest in the world, particularly in the scourge of abortion and in other affronts against human life. After the archbishop spoke, Hanlon made a presentation outlining the recent surge of pro-life propaganda within the entertainment industry and, as a result, within the media.
Doherty, who was named LifeCanada president in October, emphasized that though discouragement and despair sometimes threaten to paralyze us, we must hold fast as did the Israelites in sacred Scripture. Doherty suggested three tools for survival in times like ours: reorganizing, remembering and resisting. These words were just what the good doctor ordered, especially with the lack of good news on the political front in both Canada and the United States.
Many participants in Newfoundland’s “Red Sky at Night” also had the chance to picket the Morgentaler abortuary in St. John’s after the Saturday sessions. The abortuary is no stranger to picketers, as it has seen faithful pro-lifers on its sidewalks weekly for many years.
True to its name, the “Red Sky at Night” day of reflection focused on instilling hope for the future, as well as a firm conviction that the darkness of relativism and moral decay can only last so long before the sunrise.
