Participants in Paducah’s fifth annual Walk for Life gather around a Right to Life display at St. Francis de Sales Parish on Jan. 25, 2025. The display featured crosses representing the millions of lives lost to abortion. In addition to a Right to Life prayer, the group prayed a rosary, with alternate decades led by members of Knights of Columbus Councils 11591 and 1055, co-sponsors of the walk. COURTESY OF DENNIS HERRICKS
Paducah celebrates fifth annual Walk for Life
BY TOM CLINTON, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
On the blustery afternoon of Jan. 25, a small group of faith-filled people literally “stepped out in faith” in support of life from conception to natural death. As strong winds stirred up the leaves, Paducah’s fifth annual Walk for Life stirred a commitment to defend life in all phases.
Organized and sponsored by Knights of Columbus Divine Mercy Council 11591 and Holy Rosary Council 1055, the walk followed a path in downtown Paducah, from Dolly McNutt Plaza to a halfway point at St. Francis de Sales. There the walkers found a portable trailer that frequently travels throughout the area. Sponsored by West Kentucky Right to Life, the trailer is filled with small crosses, symbolic of the millions of babies whose lives ended through abortion.
The walk began at Dolly McNutt Plaza with an opening prayer led by Fr. Mike Clark, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Paducah. Holding high signs provided by Knights of Columbus Supreme Council with the entreaty to “Love Life, Choose Life,” the marchers chanted those phrases loud and clear along the way.
At the Right to Life display, a representative from the local Right to Life organization read a prayer in support of life. That was followed by recitation of the rosary, with each decade led alternately by Knights from each council.
As the gusts of wind continued, the marchers returned to Dolly McNutt Plaza, holding their signs and chanting their “Love Life, Choose Life” conviction. Those in attendance were reminded that though Roe vs. Wade has been overturned and returned to the states, the need to uphold life has never been greater.
Tom Clinton is the life director for Knights of Columbus Divine Mercy Council 11591.
Originally printed in the March 2025 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
