JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Support the vital 'Ocean to Ocean' pro-life pilgrimage

Saturday, 8 September 2012

Support the vital 'Ocean to Ocean' pro-life pilgrimage

Against the background of a rapidly-deepening global attack on life, leaders of pro-life movements of 16 European and Asian countries met on Saturday 28 January at the Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Poland. The protection of the Civilisation of Life and Love throughout the world was entrusted into the loving hands of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. The Act of Entrustment which inaugurated From Ocean to Ocean makes both the situation and its aim quite clear. During a ceremony Archbishop. S. Nowak blessed a specially-created replica of the Częstochowa Icon with the intention of protecting life. The icon was then entrusted to the Russian Orthodox pro-life movement, a small band of whom have now have successfully brought it on a pilgrimage of 25,000 difficult kilometres across the Russian Far East, Siberia, Kazakstan and European Russia for the veneration of Christians.

This epic pilgrimage will continue in England and Scotland between 5 to 16 November 2012. Please:

pray for its success
subscribe to receive blog-alerts about the pilgrimage - you can do this at the bottom of this post on the Ocean to Ocean UK blog

For further information, please contact:

Dr.Thomas Ward dr.thomas.ward@btinternet.com
Member of the international executive
From Ocean to Ocean
Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life
Founder and Vice-President of the National Association of Catholic Families (NACF)

From Ocean to Ocean is under the auspices of:

Human Life International (HLI)
HLI Poland
The Charity Fund for the Protection of Family, Motherhood and Childhood (Russia)
The Orthodox centre for pro-life activity (Russia).

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.