Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Beyond Protest: Prayer and Procession

Source:  Diocese of Sacramento

Beyond the witness of protest, there is witness by prayer and procession

Excerpt from the Sacramento Diocese website:


eucharistic procession through the streets of downtown sacramento

Hundreds join Bishop Soto in Sacramento on 'Walk for Religious Freedom' on Feast of Corpus Christi June 9

Bishop Jaime Soto led some 1,000 people on a "Walk for Religious Freedom" on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 9, in downtown Sacramento. Following celebration of the 5 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, the bishop led a eucharistic procession through the streets of downtown Sacramento, ending at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located at 711 T Street.

The procession included several stops for prayer for Catholic education, Catholic Charities and Catholic health care, all of which could be impacted by the mandate issued earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If the mandate stands, the federal government will force Catholic institutions to provide insurance coverage for sterilization and contraception, including abortion-inducing drugs, even though it violates the religious beliefs of Catholics.

Similar processions took place on June 9 after the 5:15 p.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Church, in Red Bluff, with Father Joyle Martinez, and at St. John the Baptist Church in Chico, following the 5 p.m. Mass, with Father Michael Baricuatro. On Sunday, June 10 there was a procession at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Vallejo following the 2 p.m. Mass, led by Father Stephen Borlang, pastor.

Dioceses nationwide will highlight religious liberty during the "Fortnight for Freedom" from June 21, the vigil of the feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, to July 4, U.S. Independence Day.