News

Two sites in diocese part of National
Prayer Vigil for Life

By Joanne Flemming
Compass Correspondent

MANITOWOC -- Catholics in the Green Bay Diocese are invited to participate with prayer, fasting and vigilance as part of the national 40-Day Prayer for Life Vigil that will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 26, and end Nov. 4.

According to Lori Koschnick of Manitowoc, Wisconsin's state coordinator of the event, 90 cities across the country plan to participate. In Wisconsin, vigils will be held at abortion clinics in Green Bay, Grand Chute, Milwaukee and Madison.

The Green Bay site is the Medical Arts Building, 704 S. Webster; in Grand Chute, it is the Planned Parenthood facility, 3800 Gillett Street. Koschnick added that the Grand Chute location is temporarily closed, at least for abortion procedures, as is one of the Milwaukee clinics.

In 2006, more than 700 people participated in a Green Bay 40-day Prayer Vigil for Life at the Medical Arts Building. The Green Bay event was only the third such vigil in the nation, said Koschnick, and the first held outside Texas. It was also the first prayer vigil organized by individuals rather than any established organization.

Each of the 40 days has been divided into 12 two-hour shifts. People can sign up to pray during those shifts at the Wisconsin sites. Koschnick noted that, at the Green Bay site, participants will walkaround three sides of the Medical Ares Building, "just saturating it with prayer for all life to be respected and that a true culture of life will really take root in that community."

She added that many area churches have signed up for 24-hour days.

The Green Bay vigil will begin at midnight Sept. 26 and end at the same time Nov. 4. A prayer service, still in the planning, will precede that beginning. Other services will be held halfway through and at the end of the vigil.

Koschnick noted that Jim Ball of Green Bay has been contacting members of Esto Vir, a Catholic men's organization, to fill the nighttime supervisor shifts from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. in Green Bay.

Besides praying, participants at each Wisconsin site will carry non-graphic signs with pro-life messages. Each one must also sign a statement, promising to maintain a peaceful presence.

To sign up for a shift, a person can visit the vigil Web site at www.40daysforlife.com and click on the calendars for the five locations. People can also call the toll free phone line at 1-877-LIFE-360 (1-877-543-3360) and leave a message. A coordinator will return the call.

Koschnick is the Green Bay coordinator. The three coordinators for Grand Chute are Tim Hewitt and Dick Sheehy, both of Appleton, and Alicia Romnek, Greenville.

Koschnick added that people who cannot participate in the vigil are asked to support it with prayer and fasting.