Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Martin Luther King Jr. Niece to Tout Pro-Life View at Memorial

King Memorial - Photo LifeNews.com

Martin Luther King Jr. Niece to Tout Pro-Life View at Memorial - LifeNews.com

The photograph and following excerpt is from LifeNews.com:

In conjunction with Sunday’s dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, his niece, Alveda King, will present the pro-life message at an event at the offices of the Family Research Council.

King, who is the full-time director of African-American Outreach for Priests for Life, a Catholic pro-life group, will host a panel discussion and video presentation on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. “Redeem the Dream: The State of the Quality of Life in the 21st Century,” will present a frank assessment of how far African-Americans have come since Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, and how the dream has been imperiled by the abortion industry.

“He was unequivocally pro-life, and it would break his heart to know that so many African-American leaders endorse freedom of choice over the right to life.”  King said in a statement to LifeNews.

“As people gather in the nation’s capital to remember and celebrate the life of my Uncle Martin, it is an opportune moment to declare that were he here today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be standing with those working to stop the violence of abortion against children in the womb and restore them to equal protection under the law,” King said.

The memorial to King is a four acre site that includes a towering granite sculpture of the civil rights leader and visitors to the King memorial filter through two pieces of granite carved to resemble the sides of a mountain. The 30-foot tall statute was sculpted by Chinese artist Lei Yixin and it shows King appearing to emerge from a mountain. The statute is placed facing southeaster towards the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial.

(The memorial to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials on the National Mall in Washington.)
Read more: King Memorial

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Pope to Pilgrims as World Youth Fest Ends: Spread the faith!


Pope to pilgrims as youth fest ends: Spread the faith - USATODAY.com

The following excerpt is from USATODAY.com:

MADRID (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI urged more than a million young people to become missionaries for the faith Sunday, giving them words of encouragement as he concluded the church's youth festival and announced that the next edition will be in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

Benedict told the crowd at a Madrid airfield hosting World Youth Day that they should not keep their faith private but participate fully in the life of their parishes and remain in communion with the church.

"So do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with others the joy of your faith," he said.

This is Benedict's third World Youth Day, the gathering of young Catholics from around the world once every three years that was launched a quarter-century ago by Pope John Paul II in a bid to reinvigorate and spread the faith among the young. It has the feel of a weeklong rock concert and camping trip, with bands of flag-toting pilgrims roaming through Madrid's otherwise empty streets to take part in prayer and education sessions, Masses, cultural outings and papal events.

Read more: World Youth Day