As Pope Francis’ theme “Hope Does Not Disappoint” guides the Church this Jubilee Year, its principle can be heard and felt as pro-life advocates in Arizona conduct their latest semiannual campaign with 40 Days for Life.
The worldwide pro-life organization’s local groups in the Diocese of Phoenix began their spring campaign with a Mass at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix Wednesday, Feb. 26. Activities will continue with rosaries, addresses by former abortion doctors and the state’s annual March for Life in the month of March.
The heart of the 40 Days initiative since its founding 27 years ago is prayer, fasting, community outreach and peaceful all-day vigils in front of abortion clinics.
Its hundreds of volunteers hail from areas in and around Phoenix, Tempe, Glendale and Flagstaff, as well as Tucson in the Diocese of Tucson.
And there always is room for more “prayer warriors.”
“Come out and pray with us,” urged 40 Days Phoenix campaign leader Nancy Brady.
Diocesan Vicar General, Moderator of the Curia, and basilica Rector Fr. John Muir celebrated the Mass, greeting more than 300 to the historic downtown Phoenix church.
“It’s wonderful to see you,” Fr. Muir said, extending greetings from Bishop John Dolan.
“How grateful he is… please accept his blessing and his support for this great work you’re doing.”
St. Mary’s Dcn. Billy Chavira reminded worshippers of God’s providence, that regardless of the time or circumstances, the Lord has given us everything we need to navigate challenges and share His message of mercy, forgiveness and love through His Son, Jesus.
“Nothing is ever coincidental. God — in His divine providence — has us here at this time,” Dcn. Chavira said.
‘What hope looks like’
Arizona’s pro-life community was stung last year by voters’ overwhelming approval of a state constitutional amendment granting access to abortion with no restriction on length of pregnancy — allowing providers to make the decision “in good faith.” The Office of State Attorney General Kris Mayes has said that the new constitutional provision “nullifies” a previous ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The Arizona Catholic Conference, the public policy agency for the Dioceses of Phoenix, Tucson and Gallup, NM, and the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, issued a statement last year signed by Bishop Dolan and his colleagues opposing Proposition 139.
Speakers during and after Mass made it clear the Church’s and 40 Days’ response is not lashing out or condemnation, but doing what they always have strived for: Sharing God’s truth in love to anyone involved in an abortion or planning one.
“We’re all called to be witnesses to life,” Dcn. Chavira said. “And we do that by being centered on the person of Jesus Christ. [He] can soften even the hardest of hearts.”
An OB-GYN and medical director of Natural Family Planning at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in downtown Phoenix, Dcn. Chavira recalled a time when a woman whose child in the womb was diagnosed with a fatal condition sought answers through Holy Cross Church in Mesa.
“She prayed [and] thank God, the person there greeted her with a smile, gave her hope and sent her to one of our pregnancy centers,” Dcn. Chavira recalled.
The center referred the woman to Dr. Chavira, who delivered the baby. Later, she had the baby baptized, and the Church validated her marriage.
“That’s what hope looks like,” Dcn. Chavira said. “That’s what we’re called to do.”
Others built on that theme.
Fr. Ryan Lee, parochial vicar at St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Scottsdale, Ariz., said abortions would go away if a culture of purity replaced the current one that normalizes impurity, promiscuity and immorality as “freedom” choices.
“Abortion…is not anything that is in harmony with what it means to be human,” he said.
Brady quoted a poem on the walls of St. Teresa of Calcutta’s home for children.
“The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway…in the final analysis, it is between you and God,” Brady said. “Regardless of the laws or apathy in the world, we are to continue to do what is ours to do. Through it all, the Lord always gives us what we need to persevere.”
40 Days Glendale campaign leader Lynn Meadows said, “Jesus loves that [abortion clinic] escort, He loves the security guard. He died for the abortionist and the clinic worker. He died so that they and you and me can have that relationship with Him and know the depth of His love and His forgiveness.”
“If we’re not out there praying for them, there is no one.”
The two women along with Tempe campaign leader Jim Fitzsimmons urged the faithful to visit 40 Days online at 40daysforlife.com, search for the city of interest under the Locations tab and sign up. The organization is seeking prayer participants for at least an hour per week between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Ash Wednesday, March 5, to April 13, which is Palm Sunday.
Prayer will take place outside the following clinics: Planned Parenthood, 55 Eugie Ave., Glendale; Family Planning Associates, near 7th and Willetta streets in downtown Phoenix; and Planned Parenthood on Baseline Road in Tempe just east of McClintock Road.
Get involved
Launched in 1998 by four individuals to prevent a clinic from opening in Bryan, Texas, 40 Days for Life has grown to over 1,000 cities worldwide in 64 countries. Though many volunteers are Catholic, the organization comprises numerous denominations.
Its activities in the Diocese of Phoenix for the next six weeks include:
- An address by former abortion provider, Dr. Anthony Levatino at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 11, in Rhode Auditorium at Arizona Christian University, 1 Firestorm Way, in Glendale;
- An address by former abortion provider, Dr. Haywood Robinson at 4:30 p.m., Friday, March 14, in front of Family Planning Associates, 1331 N. 7th Street, Phoenix. Dr. Robinson is the author of “The Scalpel and the Soul,” a 2023 book chronicling his conversion to Christianity and providing an inside look at the U.S. abortion industry. He wrote the book with his late wife, Dr. Noreen Johnson, who died in 2021. Parking is available on Willetta and Brill Streets.
- The annual March for Life Rally, 10 a.m. Saturday, March 15, at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix. Dr. Haywood Robinson will be the keynote speaker. The march will commence at noon.
- Dr. Robinson will address a prayer vigil later that evening, Sat., March 15, outside Planned Parenthood in Glendale.
- Alongside 40 Days, Children of the Rosary will host rosaries during the 40-day stretch, including:
– 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 8, outside Family Planning Associates
– 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 5, outside Planned Parenthood in Tempe
