KAPA‘A — As if by magic, the rains blanketing Kapa‘a and the neighboring communities stopped when the clock struck 3 p.m. Friday.
The brisk trade winds that shredded the field of pinwheels subsided, and people poured out of their cars in the St. Catherine Church parking lot.
“It appears we’re going to do this,” said Terri Mansfield, one of the guests at the Rosary of Life held on the sidewalks fronting the St. Catherine Church. “Father Anthony Rapozo is coming out, and everybody is coming out of their cars.”
Kevin Clark collected the pinwheel heads and re-assembled the stems in the field of pinwheels placed by students at the St. Catherine School. Each pinwheel represented an unborn life — 63 million unborn babies in the United States since Jan. 22, 1973, according to the March for Life banner joining the pinwheels.
“I don’t know if any of the other churches are doing anything,” Rapozo said. “They may have their own events. This year, we’re not at the State Capitol, or at the Kukui Grove Center. Everything is virtual.”
Three dozen people, each donning protective face masks, collected on the sidewalk for the Rosary of Life that is a part of the 2021 March for Life marking the 48th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade abortion decision.
“As we stood outside the church near the banner that states ‘We are God’s Masterpiece,’ and as the colorful pinwheels whirled in the breeze after having been planted by the parish school students, Father Anthony gave us a blessing, and Kathleen Refamonte-Ramos led us in praying the rosary with others contributing,” Mansfield said. “Many cars drove by on the busy Kawaihau Road, with people waving, honking and sending positive messages. This was a peaceful, respectful demonstration of prayer in action.”
Following the rosary, a two-hour virtual March for Life took place inside St. Catherine Church with Catholic parishes from around Hawai‘i joining Bishop Larry Silva in remembering “One life matters — You are God’s Masterpiece,” from Ephesians 2:10.
A statement from the March for Life group said that “in light of the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic which may be peaking, and in view of the heightened pressures that law-enforcement officers and others are currently facing in and around the Capitol, this year’s March for Life will look different.”
The March for Life organizers plan on having a live broadcast on Friday, Jan. 29, starting at 11 a.m. EDT featuring speeches from pro-life leaders, information on how to stay involved in the pro-life movement throughout the year, and a performance by Christian singer and songwriter Matthew West. Visit www.marchforlife.org/2021-virtual-events/ to view the live stream.
According to online sources, Roe vs. Wade was a landmark legal decision issued on Jan. 22, 1973 in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
It’s about time these people start telling the truth and call themselves pro-human-life because that is who they truly are. Earth is burdened with far too much human life at the expense of all of the rest of life. We need to grow up and realize we are utterly dependent on all of life on Earth for us to live at all.
“Of the over 400,000 children in foster care in the U.S., 114,556 cannot be returned to their families and are waiting to be adopted.”
How many of these protesters have, or will in the future, welcome these children into their homes? Are their lives not as important as an unborn fetus? I’ve never seen anyone protest on their behalf.
Obvious hypocrisy. And think of separation of church and state, which guarantees freedom from religion. Think of death penalty and support for illegal wars. I don’t see any prayers being offered for children killed as collateral damage.The list goes on. Try reality. Keep your religion personal.
You all are disgusting with your comments. Trying keeping your legs together or be responsible. Wow so sad.
If you don’t like abortion, then don’t get one. And unless you’re a o,an, your opinion is irrelevant.
The catholic church is such a problem. In the face of overpopulation with 7.5 billion people, it forbids birth control, encourages breeding and prohibits its followers from getting an abortion. What a decrepit and evil organization.
Its not logical to expect people to care for one another when they are told its okay to take a life while its in the womb. It sets a precedent that carries into how we value life, our own as well as others.
Based on the other comments, i pray many of you would come to know Jesus Christ and get things resolved through the true love we all need and can only get from him rather than blaming God for our world and coming to conclusions like abortion makes our world better which doesn’t put us on the right trajectory for making decisions to help our fellow humans.
Everyone here with counter arguments is missing the point. Do you support killing human life or not? Yes the Catholic church is problematic, and yes the resources on earth are not fairly distributed (it’s not truly overpopulated), and yes more children need to be adopted… but listen to yourself, you’re advocated FOR THE MURDER OF AN INNOCENT HUMAN as a solution to these problems. Wouldn’t it be kinder to find other solutions than death? Let’s embrace life instead.