Just outside the University of Notre Dame, the South Bend 40 Days for Life campaign will begin on September 28.
The South Bend campaign is part of the largest national pro-life mobilization in America. An annual event, it promotes pro-life efforts at the community level through prayer and fasting, peaceful vigil, and educational outreach.
The first 40 Days for Life campaign was staged in Texas in 2004 by a local pro-life group and has since grown significantly. Two hundred and thirty-eight campaigns in over 6 countries were launched in 2010, and organizers claim to have prevented over 4,000 abortions in the past 4 years alone.
This year’s South Bend campaign director, local attorney Shawn Sullivan, expressed his hope that this year’s campaign will powerfully impact the South Bend community.
“40 Days for Life as a whole serves as a witness to the power of prayer,” he said. “We save lives. Women reconsider [having an abortion] when they see someone sacrificing their time to pray for them. The most recent numbers we have show that 13 babies per week are being murdered at the abortion clinic in the shadow of Our Lady’s Dome. That doesn’t sit well with us.”
The prayer and fasting component of the campaign consists of volunteers who join sacrifices such as foregoing meat, meals, and other goods with their prayers for unborn victims, their mothers, and all who are affected by abortion. Roughly 300 volunteers have also signed up to keep a daily vigil outside of the local abortion clinic on Ironwood Road as a visible testament to their prayer. Volunteers sign up for a one-hour time slot and keep vigil beside the clinic in a small “prayer peninsula” garden.
“We start each day there at 7 AM and go through 7PM. We have 12 slots per day to fill; that’s 480 time slots for the entire campaign. Our goal is to make sure that we have at least one person witnessing all the time,” Sullivan explained.
In recent years, thousands of dollars have been put into providing amenities and beatification for the prayer garden next to the clinic. According to Sullivan, the garden has become a site of prayer and peaceful witness.
“We are different in that we are not marching up and down the street protesting,” he said. “Everyone notices that. It’s bigger than laws and politicians. When the community sees us standing out in the cold and rain praying for others, the message is loud and clear. It is a message of love.”
Notre Dame Right to Life President Samantha Stempky said that the group plans to be involved in Sullivan’s efforts.
“ND Right to Life will continue our weekly Friday rosary at the abortion clinic, taking that hour time slot each week in the 40 Days for Life effort,” she said. “We will continue our efforts to promote an awareness of life issues and respect for all life.”
The event’s final component, educational outreach, consists mainly of programs which aim to educate the community about various aspects of the abortion issue. Volunteers speak to local schools about the right to life and the value of prayer, and informational meetings are held throughout the campaign.
This year’s campaign also boasts a big-name speaker: Boston College’s renowned Catholic convert, apologist, philosopher, and author Peter Kreeft will be delivering a speech on “How to change people’s minds about abortion” at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger to commemorate the halfway-point of the campaign on October 14.
“We’re honored to have an intellectual giant like Dr. Kreeft to come to speak with us about how we can change the culture, particularly abortion,” Sullivan said. This year, Sullivan has received the sanction of Bishop Kevin Rhoades to begin an adoration chapel project which will be located in close proximity to the abortion clinic.
Both Sullivan and Stempky are adamant about the potential impact of the participation of Notre Dame students in this witness.
“Participation in events with the community is incredibly important because we are all fighting the same battle,” said Stempky. “We have a responsibility to protect our unborn brothers and sisters and their mothers – whether on campus, in the South Bend community, or 3,000 miles away.”
Mike Bradley is a sophomore theology-philosophy major who hails from Dillon Hall. Contact him at mbradle6@nd.edu.
For more information about the 40 Days for Life, including information about how to volunteer, contact Shawn Sullivan at sullyatlaw@sbcglobal.net or check out www.40daysforlife.com/southbend.
