Marche for Life! in Paris

Photo Courtesy Novopress.

France's Novopress called today's Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie a huge success and estimated that at least 18,000 persons were there. They also reported that, in what appears to be a sign of change in attitude from the French Church, this years Marche:

"...has received the support of twenty-six bishops, including Bishop Aillet, Bishop of Bayonne, Msgr Kratz , bishop of Strasbourg, Monsignor Castet, bishop of Lucon, Archbishop Cattenoz, bishop of Avignon, Bishop Poulain, Bishop of Perigueux, and even Archbishop Barbarin, Cardinal-Archbishop of Lyon and Primate of the Gauls."

Novopress also reported that one Archbishop, Dominique Lebrun, bishop of Saint-Etienne, who is the former pastor of the Basilica Saint-Denis and member of the Communications Committee of the Conference of Bishops of France, attended the Marche.

San Franciscans Dolores Meehan and Cathleen Gilles were there. Dolores, co-founder of the SF "Walk for Life West Coast" gave the keynote speech at the rally preceding the Marche.

Before the rally and Marche, the two women attended a prayer vigil at St. Francis Xavier Church. They presented a letter of pro-life solidarity from our good Archbishop George Niederauer to Andre Armand Cardinal Vingt-Trois, the Archbishop of Paris. His Eminence was unable to attend, but they delivered the letter to Monsigneur Chauvet, the Vicar General, who was at the prayer vigil

Dolores had only a minute to talk. She told us:

"It was a massive crowd--probably 20-25,000. It was especially wonderful to see so many young people. Some musicians affiliated with the Marche have composed a song just for the Marche. They had a sound truck playing it the whole way. It was great to see the young people dancing as they marched!"

What a great idea! You can listen here.

Here's the video inviting people to Marche--I like it!



LA MARCHE POUR LA VIE 2010 (bande annonce)
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Walk for Life in San Francisco; Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie in Paris

From the Walk for Life West Coast Media Blog:

One of the very best things at last year's Walk for Life West Coast was the decaration of San Francisco and Paris as pro-life "Sister Cities" united in the protection of the unborn. Our brothers and sisters in Paris will host their Seventh annual Marche Pour Le Respect de la Vie on Sunday, January 23. God bless them!



Last year, Walk for Life West Coast co-founder Dolores Meehan attended the Marche. Here she is speaking (en Francais) at the Marche:



And Paul Genoux-Defermont--God bless him!--one of the organizers of the Marche came to San Francisco and spoke at the Walk:

Here's a video announcing the 2011 Marche, and one from the 2010 Marche.

To learn more, visit http://enmarchepourlavie.fr/

Marching For Marriage and the Family in Paris!

This year, our friends over at the Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie, the Parisian sister march to the Walk for Life West Coast, will become part of the enormous event in Paris called the Grande Marche Nationale et Unitare. The Grand Marche is held this Sunday in protest of the French government's attempt to impose counterfeit marriage on society.

On January 12, before the Marche there will be a vigil for marriage and the family at the church of St. Francois-Xavier in Paris. They have received a letter of support from the Holy Father!

We send our love and prayers to our French comrades as they fight for the marriage and the family!

UPDATE: Same-sex Attracted Frenchman Gets the Issue

Today, the National Organization for Marriage blog posts quotes from same-sex attracted Frenchmen who have come out in opposition to same-sex "marriage." These men are good citizens: they put the common good of their society first. Here is one, from a man named Jean Pier:

"I am a documentary author for TV and I'm homosexual.

I have to wonder, "who's this law for?" I say to myself, "Is it made for homosexuals?" I live in Provence and I work in Paris. I know very few homosexuals who wish to marry beyond the PACS (civil unions) they already have. In fact, the number of people in PACS unions in France, couples of the same sex, is minimal. Therefore, who's this law for? If it's for the 5,000 people who live in the district of Le Marrais, then it's just a militant act. But behind it all, it must be a question of the child.

I've had this business of freedom and equality. Then I pose this question: What of the freedom and equality of the child? The child won't have its equality vis-a-vis its friends in school. Its peers may have divorced and blended families, but they have, at least, a father and mother."

More Photos from the Paris "Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie"

Our friends Dolores Meehan and Cathleen Gilles sent us these photos from Paris:

Marching down one of the beautiful Parisian boulevards.

People as far as the eye can see.

There was even a banner for the sister Walks: San Francisco & Paris! It's just like the SF Walk: people of every race, age, & nationality, three different languages just in this picture.
Like Paul tells us today: there are many gifts but one spirit!

There's our dear friend Cathleen Gilles on the left. She's a burst of energy wherever she goes!

The good Fathers from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter were there.

The future of the pro-life movement: young people!


These kids are from Poland!

A couple of little Frenchmen. God bless 'em!


And let us never forgot those who have come before us.
Dolores Meehan said: "The energy of the young people was unreal and the old people were astounded and so moved - they too are the heros from the movement when no one would listen."


God bless her!

UPDATE: Here's some video from the Marche website that gives a good idea of the size of the crowd. And the Marche website had so much traffic the server crashed! That's a good sign, but pray for the poor webmaster!

San Francisco & Paris Pro-Life "Sister Cities"

Speaking as a born and raised San Franciscan, what an honor!

Above is the wonderful banner created by our brothers and sisters in Paris for the Sixth Annual Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie. And Saturday's Sixth Annual Walk for Life West Coast will be graced by the presence of M. Paul Ginoux-Defermont, one of the organizers of the Paris Marche.



To paraphrase the great Reverend Clenard Childress, who will be speaking at the Walk on Saturday, when you see something like this, "That's a new day!"

Hundreds of Thousands of French Patriots Defend Marriage in Paris

God bless them! As we had reported yesterday, the Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie in Paris (the sister Walk to the Walk for Life West Coast), which was scheduled for next weekend, instead chose to become part of today's Manif Pour Tous march in Paris, protesting the French governments attempt to impose counterfeit marriage on society. The picture at left is great.

As Cecile Edel, one of the leaders of the Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie said (via google translate):

"the respect for life and respect for the family are part of a single struggle: a struggle eschatological the battle of David against Goliath, of good against evil and fight for the values ​​that we intend to defend. This is indeed the struggle for life in general."

Amen! Estimates of the crowd size range from 350,000 to 800,000, but this video shows people as far as the eye can see in either direction.

 

Good crowd size shot at the end of this video, facing the Arc de Triomphe:

And the end of this one shows enormous crowds of people pouring into what is, I guess, a park by the Eiffel Tower.