by Frank X. Ellis

A Memorial To The Unborn was dedicated Sunday, Jan. 16 by Archbishop John F. Donoghue in the cemetery of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish, Carrollton.

Prior to dedicating the memorial, the archbishop celebrated Mass in the church. Concelebrants were Msgr. Michael Regan, pastor and West Georgia Council chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, and Father Hugh Marren, pastor of St. Theresa’s Church in Douglasville and state chaplain for the Knights. The West Georgia Council and the Sweetwater Council of Douglasville and Lithia Springs were sponsors of the memorial, along with the two parishes.

Archbishop Donoghue began his homily by commenting on the readings for the day. “The story of the call of Samuel reminds us, through its humorous repetitions, of the respect God shows us - for though He calls, He also respects the free will which is our gift. He waits for us to understand...and at last, though we may struggle with it for months or for years, at last we make our own answer to God and say, like Samuel, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’”

The archbishop said “By hearing the word of God which is spoken to us today...we become people not on our own but with our Church...‘Do you not see,’ Paul cries out, ‘Do you not see that your bodies are members of Christ?...your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit...you are not your own. You have been purchased, and at what a price.’”

The archbishop quoted from Pope John Paul II on human life: “Every human life is sacred, because every human person is sacred. It is in the light of this fundamental truth that the Church constantly proclaims and defends the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.”

Returning to his own homily, the archbishop said, “Today, in the cemetery adjoining this holy church, among so many whom we have known, we will dedicate a monument to millions of martyrs, whose moment of conception was violated by the rope of greed and ignorance, whose moment of death was contrived by medical science, and who were denied the heavenly privilege of baptism.”

The archbishop prayed that in His infinite mercy, God would find a way of salvation for those victims of abortion who had died without an opportunity to receive baptism. He based that prayer on the knowledge that the Church teaches us the great mercy of God, who desires that all people should be saved, and of Jesus’ tenderness towards children.

A reception in the parish Carroll Center followed the dedication of the memorial in frigid weather.

Frank Ellis is editor of The Villa Rican weekly paper in Carroll County and a member of St. Theresa parish, Douglasville.