The following is a report on the Annual White Cross Memorial from Deise4Life
Every January 1st since 2019 (when legal abortion was introduced into Ireland) we in Déise4Life have held a White Crosses Memorial Service to commemorate the babies lost to abortion in our country, and to remember too the parents who, for whatever reason, made the choice to abort their babies.
The emphasis is always on prayer and remembrance at these gatherings; we do not see them in any way as political protest meetings. This year we were urged to pray for the babies, their mammies and daddies, and for the politicians in the hope that their eyes will be opened to the devastation that abortion brings in our society. One of this year’s speakers also mentioned that, in his local parish, prayers are now being offered for those who continue to work in the pro-life cause, a very welcome and uplifting development.
A constant theme at these gatherings, however, is the seeming indifference of the media and political establishments in our country to the growth of abortion numbers here. We have averaged about 7000 abortions a year here since 2019 (in fact, by 2023 the number had risen to 10,000 abortions a year) and yet the media coverage, in the words of one speaker, amounts to no more than about ten seconds of reporting of the basic numbers out of all 365 days each year. There is no media analysis of the data, no recognition that abortion rates actually vary widely across different counties, and no investigation of the reasons for these abortions or where they are most prevalent. In the “culture wars” between liberal and conservative Ireland the really important things, such as the lives lost to abortion, and why this is happening, are being overlooked. The speaker did, however, acknowledge that some media outlets, including the Dungarvan Observer which he mentioned specifically, have a good record of fair and consistent coverage of the abortion issue.
Fr John McEneaney of St Mary’s Parish attended this year’s Memorial service. On the Feast Day of Mary Mother of God, he reminded us that, in our world, which is subject to sickness and death, God restores light and life to the world through the gift of mothers, through the new life that they bring forth into the world. It is one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity, that we should share in this act of creation. Whereas many African countries still appreciate this basic truth, and find the idea of abortion abhorrent, in our own country people are now preferring to call what is right wrong, and what is wrong right.
Fr McEneaney also shared with us these words of Mother Teresa: “The greatest destroyer of peace today is the cry of the innocent unborn child. To me, the nations who have legalised abortion, they are the poorest nations, for the child is the greatest gift of God to a family, to a nation, and to the whole world….. The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion”.
Fr McEneaney led us in a decade of the Rosary, and the Memorial concluded with a tin whistle rendition of a haunting piece from Seán O’Riada.
