Catholics hold vigil praying for Obama’s conversion on FOCA

Feb 18, 2009 / 13:01 pm

This morning when President Obama arrived in Mesa, Arizona to announce his $75 billion "Homeowner Stability Initiative," a group of about 200 Catholics were holding a prayer vigil across the street. The group was praying that Obama will change his mind about supporting the unpopular Freedom of Choice Act.

Fr. Jack Spaulding, the pastor of St. Timothy’s Catholic Church, led a prayer vigil that lasted about 45 minutes.

"As Catholics, this is a tremendous opportunity for each one of us to put our faith into action through a peaceful and prayerful acknowledgement that everyone, including our president, must respect the sanctity of all human life, especially the unborn," Fr. Spaulding said.

Walter Zorich, 71, told the Arizona Republic that he came to the vigil to "pray for the president and his staff that they make good decisions."

If there was one thing that Zorich could say to the president, it would be that "life is more important than the economy."

"Our church, we value life, and the thing that is scary is that he would sign the Freedom of Choice Act," Spaulding said, according to the Free Republic.

The Freedom of Choice Act is being opposed by Catholics across the country because it would eliminate the modest restrictions on abortion passed since 1973 and remove restrictions on other government entities that prevent them from requiring Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is conducting a postcard campaign nationwide to urge legislators to abandon their support for FOCA and other measures that would promote abortion. Hundreds of thousands of postcards have already been sent.