Supporters of life participate in the sixth annual Knights of Columbus Walk for Life in Paducah, indoors this year due to the cold, on Jan. 20, 2024 at the St. Francis de Sales parish center. COURTESY OF TOM CLINTON
Paducah Walk for Life continues indoors amid freezing weather conditions
BY TOM CLINTON, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Echoes of “Choose Life” resounded through the parish center at St. Francis de Sales on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 20, 2024.
The day after thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere around the country to celebrate life, 42 people assembled on a frigid afternoon for the annual Paducah area Walk for Life.
This was the walk and rosary’s sixth annal event, normally held outdoors at Dolly McNutt Plaza in downtown Paducah, sponsored by local councils of the Knights of Columbus. Extremely cold wind chills forced the event inside. In no way did the cold outside cool the enthusiasm of walkers, hoping and praying for a restoration of the culture of life in the United States.
The event began with recitation of a rosary, led by members of Knights of Columbus Councils 11591 and 1055 and Daughters of Isabella Circle 258.
Supporters of life brought the annual Knights of Columbus Walk for Life indoors in Paducah on Jan. 20, 2024 at the St. Francis de Sales parish center. This year’s walk and rosary is the sixth annual Walk for Life in Paducah, which is normally held outdoors downtown; it was moved indoors due to extremely dangerous weather conditions. COURTESY OF TOM CLINTON
The rosary served as a reminder of the ultimate “Yes” to life given by Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Participants were reminded that, while the infamous Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion, has been returned to the states for review (as of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision), the fight for life continues. While laws can ban legal abortion, much prayer and a national change of heart is more important than ever.
Catholics in Paducah and beyond were also urged to pray a Novena for Life, along with Knights and supporters across the country.
The Knights of Columbus is unwavering in their commitment to choosing life, from conception to natural death.
Tom Clinton writes from Paducah, Ky.
Originally printed in the February 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
