In an Aug. 27 letter, Bishop Samuel J. Aquila asked the priests of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo to schedule at least one hour of prayer outside North Dakota’s only abortion facility during the upcoming 40 Days for Life North Dakota campaign and to encourage parishioners to do the same. The 40-day campaign of prayer, fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil on the sidewalk outside the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo begins Wednesday, Sept. 22.

Bishop Aquila also announced that he will lead the annual Walk with Christ for Life procession to the abortion facility on Sunday, Sept. 26, and that he has scheduled an Oct. 28 hour of personal prayer outside the facility.

Bishop Aquila has scheduled an hour of prayer outside the abortion facility each year since 2007 when the first 40 Days for Life campaign was held in North Dakota. People are encouraged to pray in shifts of one or more hours on the sidewalk outside the Red River Women’s Clinic at 512 1^st Ave. N., Fargo, throughout the 40-day campaign.

40 Days for Life is a national effort that “has mobilized more than 350,000 people in 307 cities across all 50 states – as well as locations in other nations – during six coordinated campaigns, saving 2,811 lives from abortion,” a press release provided by the national office noted.

In North Dakota, at least 30 babies have been reported saved from abortion during the 2007, 2008 and 2009 40 Days for Life campaigns, according to Rachelle Sauvageau, director of the Diocese of Fargo Respect Life Office. “Because most mothers who had considered abortion but then decided against it do not report their decision, the number of babies alive today as a result of the prayer, fasting and peaceful vigil of volunteers in North Dakota is actually much higher,” Sauvageau said. “This faithful witness to the dignity of all human life truly is changing hearts and saving lives.”

For more information about the North Dakota effort or to volunteer to pray, visit www.40daysforlifend.com or call (701) 356-7979 in Fargo or (701) 284-6601 in Park River. The website for the national 40 Days for Life campaign is www.40daysforlife.com. Bishop Aquila’s letter to priests can be found on the diocesan website at www.fargodiocese.org.

In a statement issued today, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, said the problems with the new health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, “are not mere shortcomings or imperfections, but grave and serious matters.”

“For decades, the Catholic Bishops of the United States have faithfully called for greater access to health care, especially for the poor and uninsured,” Bishop Aquila wrote. “However, the new law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while seeking to expand this access, at the same time embraces language which allows for the violation of the sacredness of human life by the expansion of federal funding of abortion. Furthermore, there is no clear support for conscience protection in the law. These problems are not mere shortcomings or imperfections, but grave and serious matters.”  Read the entire press release here.

In an Aug. 28 letter, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, encouraged priests, deacons, religious sisters and parishioners to “become engaged in promoting genuine health care reform” and presented four principles upon which the “moral value and justice of a given plan to provide health care” should be evaluated.

On why health care reform cannot include abortion, Bishop Aquila wrote, “any attempt to provide greater access to health care without safeguarding human life from the moment of conception is inherently inconsistent” and that “the destruction of human life by abortion and other evils can never be a neutral question or one that is promoted by any faithful Catholic.”

Bishop Aquila noted that conscience protection is important for everyone:  health care professionals as well as participants in health care plans. Concerning the general public, he wrote “In no way should taxpayers or policy holders be forced to participate in plans, whether private or public, which fund procedures that violate the moral precepts of the faith.”

Genuine reform, wrote Bishop Aquila, also means access for all. He noted that “finding ways to provide medical care to those who have none is a perennial priority for the Church” and that “we must ensure that the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, legal immigrants and the unborn, together with all citizens of our nation, have access to health care.”

Citing the Church’s teaching on subsidiarity, Bishop Aquila wrote that a diversity of social entities share the responsibility of ensuring access to health care, noting that “these various strands of community life within society build up a strong and cohesive social fabric that is the hallmark of a true communion of persons.”