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Published: May 20, 2009
“Didn’t think I’d live long enough to see this happen”
Big crowd turns out for pro-life rally in San Diego
News from the Trenches
A crowd estimated at between 300 and 1100 people gathered on Sunday, May 17, outside the San Diego County Administration Building for a “Choose Life!” rally. The rally was scheduled to coincide with President Barack Obama’s commencement speech at Notre Dame University. Event organizers said the official crowd estimate by San Diego police was 1100.
 Speakers included the Rev. Walter Hoye, a Baptist minister who was jailed for violating Oakland’s so-called “bubble ordinance,” and UCLA student Lila Rose, who has spearheaded a series of undercover investigations that have exposed Planned Parenthood cover-ups of statutory rape laws in various states across the country. Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church, who helped organize the event, Pastor David Jeremiah of Shadow Mountain Community Church and Host of The Turning Point, Pastor Mike MacIntosh of Horizon Christian Fellowship, Pastor Shawn Mitchell of New Venture Christian Fellowship, and Pastor Chris Clark of East Clairemont Southern Baptist Church were also featured speakers at the event.
Among the notable Catholics participating in the rally were Thomas McKenna of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, attorney Chuck Limandri, West Coast director of the Thomas More Law Center, Dr. George Delgado of Culture of Life Family Services, Leslie Brunolli, San Diego coordinator of Silent No More, and Fr. Nabil Mouaness of St. Ephrem Church in El Cajon.
“This event was the answer to about 20 years of praying that these men, leaders in the San Diego faith community, would engage the culture and stand in defense of the pre-born,” said Operation Rescue spokeswoman Cheryl Sullenger, who led pro-life activism in the San Diego area for two decades before leaving to work with Operation Rescue at its national headquarters in Kansas. “I didn’t think I’d live long enough to see this happen.”
“Many of the pastors involved have national influence and have the ability to spark a revival that could sweep the nation,” said Sullenger in a prepared statement issued following the rally. “With pro-life sentiment rapidly gaining momentum, the Church may be finally be on the verge of awakening to its responsibility to stop the shedding of innocent blood. We are excited and encouraged by what we are seeing in San Diego.”
The rally was covered by KFMB Channel 8 television news. To see a video of KFMB’s coverage, Click Here.
Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 5:22 AM By St. Christopher
These leaders must take these good signs to the media, which will be hostile, generally. With recent polls showing the majority of American's favoring "pro-life" over abortion rights, the time is getting to be right to do this. Politicians will follow the votes and seek to avoid bad publicity. Make them sweat and policies will change. However, such changes will be local in nature, at least for now. At the Obama level, the entrenched feminist pro-abort lobby will keep up the pressure to appoint judges and administrators in sync with their positions, and they will largely get what they want. But, this can change if the local scene changes (just as only a few years ago, Obama was a local Chicago labor attorney and politician and is now President).
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 8:13 AM By Anne T.
This gives me hope that not all the American people are spiritually dead.
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 9:16 AM By Dan
On the campus where I teach, there have been pro-life efforts on a notable scale this week. I have been here almost 20 years, and I have seen nothing like it. God bless these true sevants of God!
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 9:21 AM By Linda
Perhaps more Americans are now pro-life because we realize abortion has murdered 50 Million of us. That's an entire generation. A nation that murders it's babies won't be a nation for long.
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:28 AM By Mary Kuper
Praising God that we all came together as one family in Christ to defend the unborn. Could this be the beginning of a revival for life AND marriage - yes!! The SDPD said there were over 1100 attendees. Stay engaged, together we WILL make a difference!
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:25 AM By Angelo
This is great news. I hope and Pray that this will spark a fire,
that will bring together people of all Faiths to the defense of the unborn. Today is Rogation Wedsnday, lets raise our hearts and voices to heaven. That this be the grand finale
of the end of murder of innocents.
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 12:27 PM By june v
It is sad that only one priest attended and no Bishop. Were they there and not noted in the article? On an issue such as abortion, many priests should have attended along with the Bishop of San Diego. No wonder that "good" Catholics voted for Obama.
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 2:06 PM By Patrick
Only one catholic clergyman to show? Where were all the others?
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 3:58 PM By Pax Christi
Hopefully the other clergymen had good reasons to be a no-show and weren't heeding Obama's advice to be a "real" Catholic and just stay home in an effort to achieve a "common ground." If only they were more like the young woman that my mother saw standing by herself on a corner of a busy intersection in Bakersfield last Friday holding a sign that read: "End abortions."
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Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2009 6:53 PM By Joan of El Cajon
Actually, I heard that there were three priests at the rally --and one, the wonderful Father Nabil Moannes of St. Ephrem Maronite Parish in El Cajon, led the closing prayer.
However, Bishop Brom was not there, and his absence was glaring. I heard through the grapevine that he had been invited, but refused to participate. He always shuns publicity. Why? What is he afraid of?
If Bishop Cordileone were still San Diego's auxiliary bishop, there's no doubt he would have attended. In fact, Dr. Garlow said that he had spoken to Bishop Cordileone before the rally, and that Bishop Cordileone had assured him that he would be with us in spirit, even though he physically could not attend now that he is the new bishop of Oakland.
We San Diegans are back to where we started before we had Bishop Cordileone: stuck with Bishop Brom, who refuses to lead his flock on the most pressing moral issues of the day. God help us!
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Posted Thursday, May 21, 2009 1:27 AM By Grace Dulaney
The speakers were all phenomenal and diverse, with powerful real life stories to tell. Mary Kuper did an awesome job putting the event together on very short notice. Jim Holman, who attended, was recognized for his years of contribution to the pro-life cause. We are all thrilled to see this coalition come together. Ecumenism is action! Many strong pro-life priests (including my pastor) would have been there in a heartbeat but Sundays are tough for busy pastors with many Masses to say. This is just the beginning of a new dawn for the pro-life movement!
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Posted Thursday, May 21, 2009 6:55 AM By Elizabeth
This gives me 'great hope'!
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Posted Thursday, May 21, 2009 6:03 PM By Angie Shelly
THIS IS SIMPLY WONDERFUL!!! But Where Was Bishop Robert Brom?
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Posted Tuesday, May 26, 2009 8:51 AM By Chris
Check out Ottawa Canada's March for Life. We started out small too, 12 years ago. This May we had about 10,000, including archbishops and cardinals. The main media still ignore us, but it's becoming harder for them to do so.
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